To The Brink
by klonoa7
Summary: Robotnik attains the unlimited power of a jewel called The Sapphire Stone. Can the Freedom Fighters stop him in time before he unlocks the dangerous potential of the stone?
1. Prolouge

Sonic the Hedgehog, Bunnie Rabbot, Sally Acorn, Rotor Walrus, Antoine D'Coolete, Miles "Tails" Prowler, Metal Robotnik, the Chaos Emeralds and Robotnik are copyrighted by Sega, Sonic Anime and Dic respectively.  
  
I, Kolona7, copyright Nathaniel, Clark, Kierelle, Amel and the Sapphire Stone. The characters and storylines shall not be copied or published in any other means of publication without my consent or agreement. Plagirism is a crime, so abide by it.  
To The Brink  
  
Prologue: The Sapphire Stone  
  
Some beings in the world crave power whenever they can possess it. It makes them stronger and invincible. They are never satisfied with what they have. They need MORE! Before the time of the Chaos Emeralds, there was a powerful jewel that many beings of the planet didn't know about and unfortunately, there were few to know and witness the power of the Sapphire Stone.  
Many years ago, around the time of mass civiliation of Mobians, a well -known and professional craftsman was paid to find a rare and extravagant material of rock so that a rich customer would be able to live in a beautiful summer house. The craftsman was paid handsomely and was soon off on a trek to find such a rare piece of rock. The journey took a nearly a week of planning and two months of searching over the globe looking for such a rare and priceless material. The craftsman traveled to a lone island that he couldn't find on the map; for on this unknown island there was a large volcano. That Mobian (Nathaniel) traveled to the base of the volcano, hoping that the volcano was dead and inactive. Dusty smoke bellowed from the top, but the volcano showed no signs of activity. Nathaniel looked along the ground of the volcano and saw a shiny shade of dark blue colored rock glinting in the sunlight. He chipped off two large handfuls and traveled back home on his small boat. Back at his workplace, Nathaniel showed the fragments to his apprentice, Clark. Clark was indeniably impressed by the shape, texture and overall quality of the rock. Clark asked what type of rock it was and Nathaniel couldn't answer. He himself honestly never saw a material of rock such as this in all of his life of craftsmanship. The rock was so shiny that Nanathiel could see his reflection in it. Except for the area that he cracked, the remaining area was smooth as glass. Nanathiel thought of his wife and the color of her eyes, that was the same color as the piece of rock was. For the stone, he gave the name Sapphire. Thus, the discovery of the Sapphire Stone came known to the world.  
Later, Nanathiel showed his customer the rock fragment and she was very pleased. She would have the craftsman and his apprentice take a large boat back to where he found it to excavigate and transport the material back. She paid Nanathiel half now and would pay him the rest of the payment when the house was built. It was on the night before the boat trip and Nanathiel and Clark were both busy with preparations for the trip. In his free time, Nanathiel had made a small hexagon shaped stone out of one chunk of rock that he would give to his wife as a present. Clark studied the other piece while looking at a map by an open flame. Clark left the stone by the fire and went to locate a navagational route with Nanathiel. Clark came back to the fire and tried to grab the stone, but almost burned his hand due to the intensive heat that the stone was carrying. Clark dropped the stone in the fire and yelled in pain. Nanathiel came running to see what was the problem. Clark told him about the stone and Nanathiel grabbed a stick and pushed the stone from the fire. The two saw the stone glowing bright blue right before their eyes. They didn't know what to think of this phenomenon. Nanathiel told Clark to pour water over it and Clark rushed to get a bucket. He did as he was told, but the Stone was still glowing bright blue. No stone that Nanathiel seen in his lifetime has never done such an act before. Clark wondered if the stone had absorbed the heat from the fire. Clark rushed over to Nanathiel's work table and felt the small stone that he made. The stone was pulsating with a small amount of heat as well. The two had stumbled upon an incredible act of nature, but they sat around wondering what to do with it, and rather, how to figure out how to use their experiment. The Stone could absorb heat and harness it, that part was utterly obvious. The only problem was that how could you use a fire stone without touching it? The two tried various tools of both wood and metal but the heat of the Stone melted them. They decided that building a house out of this stone would kill anything inside it. A probable theory they thought was that the stone could absorb the heat of the sun and heat up the insides of the house. The trip to the island had to be cancelled, they thought.   
The next day, Nanathiel and Clark went to the rich customer at her elaborate home, and told them that the Sapphire rock was unfitted for housing structure. The female customer told them that she had already ordered a handful of employees to excavigate the rock and that they were only getting paid once the shipment had came back. Nanathiel thought that she needed an explanation. He told Clark to demonstrate the Sapphire's power to her and he did so. Clark made a small fire and put the Stone next to the fire. She saw that the Stone brightened and she placed her hand out to touch it, but Nanathiel stopped her before her ignorance would cost her. She marveled at the power of the stone. The thoughts of the summer house disappeared and she wondered of getting such a rare stone and how the stone could give her such wealth and social power beyond all being. She was rich now, but with the Sapphire and it's extraordinary powers she could be set in life forever. Somehow she had to find out more about this wondrous stone, and the two men where the key. She agreed with the two men and told them to keep the sum of money that she gave them. They thanked her and left. Once they left her abode, she consulted with her assistant and told him to follow them to their home and scout a route to their location. He did so, and followed Nanathiel and Clark undected all the way to their workshop on the outskirts of the small villiage.  
The next day at Nanathiel's workshop, Nanathiel got up, and started his routinre morning business. He went outside and saw a bunch of hooligans and his former customer outside. She (Kierelle) told him that she wanted more of the stone and was willing to destroy his house if that was what it took. Nanathiel told her he didn't have any other pieces of the Sapphire. She thought he was lying and commanded her thugs. Her henchmen threw Clark, beaten and bloodied at Nanathiel's feet and Nanathiel helped him up. Kierelle threatened that she would go after his wife and kill both of them if he didn't comply and showed where he acquired more of the Sapphire Stone. Clark thought that she was crazy, but Nanathiel agreed with her. Kierelle, Nanathiel, Clark and her henchmen took a boat to the lost island that Nanathiel found the first time. Kierelle's henchmen extracted and loaded pieces of Sapphire onto the ship, when a distant rumbling could be heard on the island ground. The volcano was active and erupted. It spewed molten lava over the Sapphire Stone causing the Stone to absorb the molten heat. The volcano launched large chunks of Sapphire Stone into the air. Everyone tried to escape on the boat, but the boat was hit by a pieces of heat absorbed Sapphire and destroyed the ship. From the mess and destruction, Clark was the lone survivor drifting on th open sea, but before the boat caught on fire and sinked, Nanathiel gave him his piece of cut Sapphire and told him. "Give this piece to my wife. She lives in an city called Mobotropolis."   
The ocean shore washed Clark on a land very close to Mobotropolis. He went to the city and looked for Nathaniel's wife. Clark told Nanathiel's wife of what happened. She cried for the loss of her husband and soon treasured the Sapphire that he left for her. A year later she placed her husband's valuables and the Sapphire in a capsule after planning to leave Mobotropolis. On that fateful day she (and many others) were captured by robots and would never see the capsule or her free will again.   
From that day on, after the fall of Mobotropolis, the Sapphire was hidden by the rubble of old house, metal material and assorted junk. Buried within the earth, the Stone waited to be unearthed and see the light of day again; to absorb the light of day again. To become the almighty, yet unknown power that it once was, that the heavens bestowed upon the planet. Is there such a person that can control the raw power of the Sapphire Stone? The Stone waits for that someone in it's cold metallic grave. 


	2. The Darkest Hour Begins First

Chapter One: The Darkest Hour Begins First  
  
It was a dark and stormy night. The sky was a dismal patch of pitch back sky that poured rain on the vast, rocky wasteland. Wind hollered and breezed through old trees scattered on the plains, and lightning struck rampantly in the skies. The area was extinct of life, except for one blue creature. Sonic the Hedgehog ran like a bolt of lightning, desperately trying to find his love, Sally Acorn. He yelled her name but it was no use. The drizzle turned into pouring rain, and it made looking for Sally tougher than before. Sonic covered his eyes while running through the weathered mess, trying to find her.   
"Sonic!" He heard.  
It was faint, but somehow he could hear it. Amidst the pounding rain and whistling wind, he could hear her voice. Sonic ran with all his speed; pounding his feet on the wet and slippery ground. It was luck that he didn't lose traction and crash and burned to the ground. He looked ahead and saw something looking like it was trying to get his attention.  
He kicked his speed up a notch and was blazing trails trying to get to her. Sonic got closer and closer and could even see her mahogany hair slicking down on her face. Suddenly, something out of the sky ran into Sonic with the force of a battering ram and knocked him off of his feet. Sonic slid on the ground and thought that lightning stuck him. He touched his body and found that he wasn't burnt to a crisp, thank heavens. He looked up and saw gloved fist grabbing his foot. Sonic tried to wriggle free, but the hand tightened his grip and slammed Sonic into the wet ground face first. The dust and rain cleared enough for Sally to see Sonic pummeled into the earth. She gasped in horror and ran over to him. Sally ran over to Sonic, in spite of all that she saw and moruned for him as tears ran down her face in agony. She ran to Sonic, who only had the strength to crawl and look up at Sally's tearful face. Sally cried, and clasped Sonic's mortally wounded body in her hands. As if the carnage was over, the hand came out of the stormy clouds like an omnipotent being and clasped Sally. The hand quickly tighten its grip and Sally screamed as the air escaped her lungs, and the pain became excutrating to her body. The hand lifted her up in the air and she had to shake her hair off of the front of her face in order to see well. She looked at the arm extending into the clouds and saw the face of her moral enemy, Robotnik form in the clouds grinning with tall rows of teeth to match. An electrical current came from the sky around the arm and coursed through the arm into the hand...screams toiled into the night...victory was finally his. Sonic and Sally were finally out of his way, and the world was his to control!  
He began to have more dreams when he created the resting tubes that allowed him to sleep vertically. Of course, these pleasurable dreams chiefly were about Sonic and his cohorts one way or another. What did dreaming had to do with world conquest and robotization? Not much, he thought. Of course, he'd have to be alert at all times, the small hours of sleep helped him through the long days of planning, scheming and torturing any captive Mobians he still had. Time was always of the essence. Sonic and his Freedom Fighters could attack at any given time of day, so EVERYTHING had to be up to spec at all times.   
A Shadowbot entered in the room and pulled a switch on the wall. The tube slid upward and Robotnik's massive body touched the platform. At the same time a jade green gas escaped at the top of the resting tube as well. Robotnik stretched his arms and legs and walked into the main deck, a room that was connected to his resting chambers.  
The main control room allowed Robotnik to do many various tasks. It allowed him to gather and store computer data, spy on any intruding Mobians, or bark out commands to his robots whenever necessary. The structure of the room was shaped like a vertical oval and was full of flashing lights, switchboards screens, panels and machinery. The walls were of dark metal and also had pipes running around the walls were full of electricital wiring. Although it was early on the morning, all of his machinery was still on, active and running. Low, humming noises came from within the walls and light from the monitors lighted the low-lit room. Robotnik's chair was even centered in the center of the room, and made it for extreme comfort ness while he did his business. A door whipped open and Robotnik walked into main room and sat in his rotating chair. He looked in the ready monitors and saw the sky in dark blues and blacks. The rain was coming down calmly and as he panned his numerous monitors, everything was on the green level.  
"How comes the renovation of the fourth quadrant? Has there been enough Shadowbots to do the job?" Robotnik asked a Shadowbot in the room.  
[Due to overnight productivity, there are enough Shadowbots to wage war against the Mobians. Yet the construction of the back up generator has been halted due to the extreme ruination of Mobotropolis in the section.]  
"Well, are you doing something about it or not?" Robotnik asked, expecting a straight answer.  
[Shadowbots are already at work clearing away the old Mobotropolis, to site the generator. If it pleases you, an artifact has been unearthed in the fourth quadrant.]  
"Really? Then I'll go take a look at this artifact later. For now, I want a status report on all our resources." Robotnik ordered.  
The Shadowbot nodded, and clanked its way over to the metal door, where it swished opened and closed.   
The steady number of Shadowbots was on schedule to reach his quota, but his battle armor was taking longer than expected. Robotnik wanted the best for himself and his dark chariot would prove fitting once he destroyed Knothole and the entire forest around it. Plus, making so many Shadowbots required metal and because of that, several projects for buildings had to been delayed, cancelled or destroyed for scrap. It was all for the better though, and soon enough, as long as the Freedom Fighters don't stumble upon his plan, than world conquest will be within his grasp.  
The thought of a blitzkrieg style attack was his best idea yet. With his Shadowbot army eradicating the entire forest, the Freedom Fighters and the Mobians will have no haven to stay, and from there it becomes easy pickings upon the pleasure of onslaught without mercy, or to capture them and turn them into his robotic slaves. No doubt that Sonic the Hedgehog be captured and made into his personnel robotic assistant. His worst enemy would be more than a mere metallic shadow, and his friends will be slained by his very own hands.  
Robotnik hated the Mobians for all the trouble and nuisance they were, but now it was all or nothing. It was time that he laid all of his cards on the table. His machines of mass destruction would be put to the test against the Mobians and the Freedom Fighters. Of course, if something had to go wrong in all of this, he needed a back-up plan in case of his early demise. His back-up plan rested solely in the heart of his tower, levels well below the surface. Hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to that, but just in case...  
"Soon, everything will come together, and once my army of Shadowbots and my masterpiece are finished completion, there will be NO ONE to stop me!" Robotnik bellowed.  
Robotnik pressed a button on the metallic armrest on his chair.  
"Bring a hover unit to the main tower." Robotnik ordered a Shaodwbot.  
He wasn't too busy, and the situation of the Metal Robotnik didn't need to center all of his attention with his Shadowbots finishing it, so he decided to check on this artifact that his shadowbots recovered and wondered if it could be of any use to him. 


	3. Morning

Chapter Two: Morning  
  
Bunnie Rabbot arose to a bright, chilly morning. She blimked her eyes quickly and she wondered about the dream that she had. It was a dream of her flying over the forest. The thought of her flying seemed ridiculious, but most of the time her dreams never made sense anyways. She sat up in bed and yawned heavily. In her sleepy haze, her hair and ears drooped over her face. The other day, before she went to sleep, she put on a pink shirt with a yellow smiley face on to keep herself warm. Unfortunately, she still felt cold all over. Maybe someone would knit her a sweater if she asked around. She cocked her head back slightly to shake her ears and hair backd. Being half robotic on a cold morning wasn't really fun at times. It was like trying to sleep and feel warm for instance. Her normal hand brushed against her metallic legs and a chilly reaction made her came to her senses.   
"I'm so tired I could just fall to pieces." She said to herself.  
There was nothing to be tired from, aisde from the normal work, conditioning and more work that she did. More sleep would be nice, but she knew that she had to get up. Ingoring all that she thought to herself, Bunnie plopped herself back on the pillow and curled herself tighter to get some warmth on herself. Sleep sure felt good. It was like a soothing shower, only without the hot water.  
After an extra hour of sleep and a mellow dream with the sun and the sky, she woke up. The first thing that she saw was sun beams entering through her window and shining on her sheet covers. She pulled the covers over and sat on the edge of her bed. She looked at her hair and ran her hand through her tuft of hair. Her feet patted on the edge of her bed, they made loud, rhymthic sounds in the room. She stood up and stretched her arms behind her head and yawned again.   
Her hut was filled with sunlight and she surveyed her room all around, there wasn't much in her one room house besides her mirror that was tall enough to see her whole body, some tables and chairs, and some other stuff.   
When the thought of time entered her mind, she almost forgot that she and the guys had some tasks to do, and it was no better time to do it than while the sun was out. She walked to her mirror and took off the shirt. She quickly checked herself out in the mirror and in her pink, one-piece shirt.  
"You're looking good as always, Bunnie girl," she said to herself in humor as she smiled.  
She went outside and when she opened the door, the breeze of the fresh air hit her on her way out. The sun's light made her squint her eyes, but it didn't take long for her to adjust.  
Bunnie came out of her hut and stepped on the green grass. She stretched her arms out and smiled to the new day. The villiage of Knothole was very active in the morning. Many of the Mobians were out doing daily routines and scheduling the very day before them. A couple of Mobians ran by carrying wooden boards and tools in their hands. From their pace, they were in quite a hurry. She was just one of the many residents from the city formly known as Mobotropolis, and now they had to band together against Robotnik and live in the dense and majestic forest. In every mission, she put her life on the line in the war against Robotnik, but she wasn't just the only one trying to make a change.  
"My dear Bunnie, I'm zo glad that you are awake," Antione's french accent rang in the air.  
The most dearest Mobian she ever met and also a member of the selective Freedom Fighters had greeted her at her hut. Antione D' Coolette was the sweetest friend she ever met. Sometimes he'd go a bit overboard on the charming, but he was a spirited soul nonetheless.  
" 'Ello my buttercup," He said as he hugged her.  
"Hey, sugar," As she hugged him, she could feel the freshness of his jacket and hair. He was such a tidy guy, he probably shined his boots as well. "So what's on the agenda today, hon?"  
"I heard that there would be a mission tonight, but I haven't been informed of anyting."  
"Well, where's Sonic and Sally at?" Bunnie asked quizzically as she looked in his eyes.  
"Sally iz zound asleep in her room, and you know Sonic. Zipping off somewhere no doubt." Antione paused, and then added "Bunnie, if we're going to be hitting Robotnik tonight, then let's go together,"  
Bunnie felt mildly shocked; her eyebrows jumped up in appreication at the thought. Antione never did go on many missions anyway, and he wasn't the powerhouse freedom fighter like herself, but he could pull his own weight when needed. It was just that she didn't want to see him get hurt, or worse, dead. She'd have no one to lean on or talk to in that special way. Besides, Sonic and herself was cheifly all the power they needed on missions.  
"I would slash up the Shadowbots like thiz!" Antione stepped considerably away from his love.  
Antione took out the sword out of its shieth and the light reflected off of the hand made metal blade. He swung it around swishing air by him in smooth circular motions. The grace and skill that he showed was quite outstanding. With the air as his practice target, Antione slashed and stabbed with the style and grace of a professional fencer. He even added some fancy kicks to his arsenal; as he tried to steal the show. After the small exhibitional display, he then held the sword vertical and had his other hand by the sword, but not touching it entirely. He ended up with his back facing Bunnie, and Bunnie walked up to Antione and draped her arms over his chest.  
"Oh, Antione...You're good at protecting the villiage. If you miss me, then I'll just come back, hon," She said. "It's just that it would just kill me if I lost you..."  
Bunnie could fell Antione's shoulders sag slighty and his sword dropping to the ground. She smiled, trying to cheer him up...  
"Come on, Antione. Perk up, muffin." She peckered a kiss on his cheek. She thought of telling him that she'd guarantee him arriving home, but facing Robotnik always meant that NOTHING was guaranteed. Even if a plan was planned perfectly.  
The kiss seemed to shake Antione baack to good health. Ant placed the sword back in the shieth and turned around to see Bunnie's natural happy look staring him down.  
"But you are zust a pretty face, no? Let's go take a walk "  
Bunnie giggled and smiled at Antione, she never thought that Antione D'Coolette of the French regieme would ever show her his skills.  
  
After meeting Sally yesterday, it was uncanny that such a device had resided in Nichole's data file. Sally was extracting files and data from Nichole's memory banks when she found out about the Semtex and brung Rotor over. After viewing all the specs, they figured that the Semtex could be the very key to stop Robotnik together, but Sally was against a couple of factors.  
First, she didn't want to level Robotropolis, after all they did used to live there when it was Mobotropolis and maybe one day they'd go back to it and be able to live it. In defense of the plan, Rotor said that they would only hit Robotnik's generators, and the Shadowbot factories.  
The second factor was that because of the material they'd have to slim down the number of FF's for the mission. Sonic could plant them, ignite them and hit the next one, but Robotnik could catch wind of the plan in a hurry as the explosions would be a dead giveaway. Also, the mission was way risky. There was too much of a high risk factor, and the last thing she wanted to do was to lose anyone.   
They decided to talk their plan with the rest of the Freddom Fighters. Rotor went to bed with the thought of totally putting Robotink out of commission, but at what cost? As far as he was concerned, he didn't want to lose anyone in the war either seeing no one had to die in vain.  
The next day was alreadly upon him and he still that thoughts and envisions of the talk with Sally last night. Rotor got out of bed and went outside to clear his head. The front of his hut was shady, so he decided to hang around there for a while.  
" 'ello, 'Rotar," Antione said as he strolled by.  
Rotor waved at Antione and he waved back in response.  
Hey, where's Ant going to today, and with his sword too! Lest hope he doesn't get into trouble.  
Rotor rested himself on a wooden banner, wondering what he, as well as the Freedom Fighter's planned to do about this situation.   
He wondered if Sonic would be around early in the day. Rotor adjusted his hat and looked around. No one otherwise the Mobians walking and working about. Suddenly a blue blur came across his view. Rotor waved him down and Sonic altered his course and curved over to see his friend. The obstacles of Mobians and various huts were nothing for the speedy hedgehog. He easily cruised through the houses and some shocked Mobians until he was over at Rotor's hut.  
"Sonic! You got a few minutes, I got to talk to you." he asked in his heavy, nasily voice.  
"Sure, no sweat, Rote," Sonic replied.  
Sonic followed Rotor into his hut and had to watch out for the gadgets, electronics and blueprints that laid on the table and floor. Rotor closed the door and picked up some stray papers, but for the most part he left everything where they were. What he was about to uncover was so urgent, that neatness would have to take a backseat for now.  
"You got any grub over here, bro" Sonic asked as he zipped into a table chair in the kitchen.  
Rotor carried his bulf into the kitchen, where he took out two glasses and a container of red soda. He poured in both of the cups, sat down and began to drink his.  
"Sonic! Sally and I just stumbled along one major breakthrough we found yesterday,"  
"What's that, Rotor?!" Sonic grew very intrested in what his friend had to say.  
"Something that could turn this war against Robotnik in our favor!"  
"Well, don't just sit there, tell me!"  
For Sally's sake, he didn't want Sonic to know about it, but he'd find out sooner or later and the rest of the Freedom Fighters would know as well.  
"Well, I was checking out some data on Nichole's memory yesterday and saw a data file on an explosive material called Semtex."  
"What's Semtex?" Sonic asked as he finished up his drink.  
"Seems that the Mobians used it in construction and deconstruction of their modern structure. If we can cluster multiple Semtex bombs together, we could do some serious property damage to Robotropolis."  
"How much damage are we talking about?"  
"We're talking major. The Semtex together act as cluster bombs but they feed off the heat of other bombs and the destructive power of additional bombs increase. The design of the Semtex isn't difficult to make and the file gives blueprints, but there's one catch."  
"What's that?"  
"The Semtex has to be activated by a remote control and because of the only power supply I could find may jam up the signal, but I'm not sure until I get a sample."  
Sonic stepped from his chair and walked around in the room."That certainly sounds difficult, Rote, but where can we get a sample?" He turned to Rotor and said.  
"There's a mountain west of here that has plenty of raw crystal, but Sally wasn't feeling too hot about the plan. She said that you'd want to do it anyway, she didn't want to lose anyone trying this stunt..."  
"Well, she's right about one thing, We got to do it. With the Semtex, we could permently put Robuttnik out of business!"  
"But it's too risky, Sonic! Even for you!" Rotor put his hands on his hips, and his attitude against the mission grew.  
"By the time Buttnik knows what wrong, he AND Robotropolis will be ten feet under the ground! Besides, we got to try. Geurilla tactics can only work for so long, ya know."  
Rotor paused for a moment and looked to his equipment and materials and wondered if this plan would even work. Sonic walked to him and patted his hand on his broad shoulder.  
"Rotor, if its one thing I don't do, I don't disapoint. Let'd do this for everyone, come on." Sonic encouraged him.  
For a while, Rotor didn't budge. He didn't want to see Sally distraut over Sonic's loss or anyone for that matter, but he knew that they had to take action with what they have. If anyone could do pull the stunt off without a hitch it was his Sonic.  
"...Ok, let's do it. I need the crystal in the mountains soon, so I can experiment them. Sally is going to conduct a meeting later, so I want to have them up to spec."  
"Way ahead of ya, bro."   
Sonic was already out the door and running to the westerly mountains. Roter sat down and looked at his blueprints and unfinished gadgets, and wondered if this would be the day that Robotnik's rule would be over. If everything turned out right they would have an early celebration, but they knew that they had to be on their toes and on their guard once they hit Robotropolis, their was no suspescion of what latest weapon of destruction Robotnik had planned for them. 


	4. Exploiting Power

Chapter Three: Exploiting Power  
  
It was noon, but at Robotropolis the smoke and blocked out most of the sunlight from the sun. Even at the peak of daylight, Robotropolis became a dead city devoided of any living beings.   
The Hoverunit that carried Robotnik and the Shadowbot pilot landed smoothly in the fourth quadrant, or what Robotnik liked to know it as "unfinished business". The ruination of the old buildings reminded him of the lies and deciet of Princess Sally's father and the Mobian people alltogether. The ruination made him think about what made the Mobians think that he was trustable? They were so gullible to trust someone of a different species that it was almost too easy to begin his diabolical and warlord scheme. If it weren't for a certain blue hedgehog that plagued his plans, his world conquest would have been sooner than he thought. Curse that hedgehog.  
The circular door on the side of the hoverunit split into two pieces and opened up. Robotnik hunched out of the hoverunit, and was greeted by two of his Shadowbots. One of them was holding a dusty, white cylinder of metal. It didn't look very important at first, but as always, looks could be decieving. Of course, the Shadowbots could have brought it to him, if it was important.   
"I'm wasting time out here with you two, while my masterpiece lays dormat and unfinished!" he put both of his hands out and the Shadowbot gave the tube to him. "Continue construction," Robotnk bellowed. He scanned over tthe off white, dusty cylinder and looked at his Shadowbots. There was a small red button under a glass surface. He looked at his robots with a grim, menacing look, and being semi pleased that there was a usage for the piece of junk, he recieved the cylinder from his subjects. With his possession in hand, he calmly enentered the Hoverunit and signaled it to take off.   
There was no room for praising or congradulations. They were his creations that followed and obeyed his commands. Robots who made him come out for a piece of old junk. Sonic and his friends would obey him and fear him once he had them under control. That was all that was needed was control. If it wasn't for those rebelous Freedom Fighters. Attitudes like theirs had to be sustained and controlled, in his world there was no say but allegance to himself and those who defied were rid of.  
The hoverunit was smoothly and silently taking off and heading back to his large tower as Robotnik ordered. Robotnik put both hands on the cylinder and placed it in front if his face. Inquizzively, he pressed the button and the thick glass shaft aside by tiny gears hidden within the cylinder. The glass section of the tube opened and Robotnik helped himself to a caseful of trinkets.  
It looked like someone didn't have enough time to pack their belongs. The artifacts inside had withstood the test of time, unknown to him, and a bit of fresh air released from the seal. Robotnik rummanged through the tube, but to his dismay all he found was some pictures of a couple of Mobians. In the picture were two male mobians and a female Mobian. They were posing behind the city of the former known Mobotropolis. He scoffed as he looked at it, yet in the picture it caught the sight of the empire formerly known as Mobotropolis. Someone's family or a group of friends, he thought. Oh well, he probably killed them or robotized them back in the past.   
Hidden within the letters and small, still functioning working tools there was a dark blue object peeking out of the paper. The jewel was palm size in its horizontal shape and was smooth as glass and the stone had shined so much like glass itself.  
"Look what I found," Robotnik said as he held the stone closer to his face.  
In a radical change of pace the calm touch of the blue jewel turned into a fiery, explosive rage that penerated through his body. In an alarmed state of panic, Robotnik grunted heavily through his gritted teeth.   
The Shadowbot pilot had heard his masters cry and truned to see if he was injured. It was in his program to protect his master from any form of danger to him.  
"Keep....driving." Robotnik ordered.  
And the Shadowbot did as he was told and turned his head back forward.  
His hand felt like it was going to burst into flames. So this is what it was to experence physical pain. He always enjoyed hurting others but when it concerned the likes of homself, it was It was like molten steel was pouring into a gaping wound in his hand, for the extreme heast sensation traveled through his entire.body. What type of power was blooming at his fingertips?! His eyebrows slanted down and he held his hand on his wrist where his his radius and ulna where. Scolding the inanimate object wouldn't do him any good, but why was this happening to him?  
The power was overcoming him, he had to let go or the stone would surely melt through the muscle tissue and dissinigrate his bones leaving him with one less arm. In an offbeat thought, he'd think that he'd have to have this arm robitized as well.  
Robtonik let his grip off of the jewel and it fell back into the cylinder, but the jewel didn't go through the cylinder and his hoverunit as he thought it would. He caught his breath and looked at his gloved hand. It felt charred and singed like charcoal.  
"What extrodenary power..." Robotnik gasped in awe.   
It was amazing that he was still alive after all that. Robotnik curled his hand into a fist and opened it repeatedly to try and get the feeling back into it. Once his body and mentality returned back to normal, the hoverunit had reached the back of the main tower were the hanger reside.   
The hoverunit touched down on the runway with a gentle bump, and Robotnik was eying his newest peice of treasure.   
"How could a Mobian ever run into something like this? No matter. It's mine now and I have the perfect plan for you." He spoke.  
The circular door opened again and Robotnik took his cylinder in hand and exited the hoverunit. Quietly, but quickly, Robotnik moved to the hoverunit to an elevator on the other side of the hangar. There was only one thing he had on his mind at the moment, and he had to get to it as soon as possible.  
Never had he experience first hand a coursing amount of power in a small stone. There was so much he wanted to discover, to learn about the jewel, but he had other plans on his agenda that needed his attention.  
"...With this jewel I can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak," he said figuratively, and chuckled at his joke.  
On the far side of the hanger was a tan metalic wall with an elevator built into it. Robotnik pressed the down button and waited for the elevator to arrive. A resonating bell signaled the approached the cabled ride and the doors slid open. Robotnik stepped inside and the doors closed. Two floors later, Robotnik arrived in the Ground floor; underneath all of the structures on top. The doors opened and he was in the "Dark Ocean" segment of the ground floor.  
Dark Ocean was done in smooth, new metallic material and structures. It was the newest section currently made to house the Metal Robotnik project, and it definately showed. Circular, white lights hung in the rathairs overlooking his unfinished project. A semi circle bridge folded around the mech. With a remote computer screen attached to the semi circle bridge, it was the one way that he could personnally customize and do detail work on MR. Down below on the bottom floor where various Shadowbots working on the leg ligiments of MR.   
"This jewel shall serve as an excellant power source! Once you are completed, nothing will stop us from getting in our way."  
There would be some nessacry fixtures to the weapon and flying systems, but the jewel's power would amply supply his creation once he figured everything out. Unfortunately, time wasn't fairly on his side. It wouldn't be too long before the Freedom Fighters would raid him, so he had to be top notch ready. There would be no more putting palns back, his future rided on the success, everything had to lock into place and soon the friuts of his labors would be greatly rewarded.  
Robotnik opened the cylinder and poured the contents out on the cold floor. The jewel clattered about amid the working and production sounds of Dark Ocean. Tempted, he picked up the jewel by the hands again, and to his wonderment, there was no heat or pain that followed. Was it broken, or had it released all of its power on him during his first encounter? Time and numerous experiments would only tell if the jewel had enough juice to run MR.   
Judgement day is coming, hedgehog. 


	5. The Plan

Chapter Four: The Plan  
  
The sun reached its peak in the sky and the clouds circled around it, but didn't cover its shining light, as it shined on Knothole. It was a few hours after noon and Sally had gotten everyone together after seeing successive experiments of Rotor's Semtex explosives some time ago. After seeing the potential damage one Semtex explosive could do, she was almost sure that the plan would work. On the other hand, she didn't wan't to force her firends into doing the dangerous mission, and thus that was what the meeting was for. After she and Rotor got everyone corralled, they all met in Rotor's hut. Bunnie and Antione stood together, Sonic leaned back on a chair and had a foot on a small sized box.,Tails walked around toying with some of Rotor's mechanical tools and works, and Sally stood up behind the table with two Semtex bombs on the table.  
"So, what's the mission, Sal?" Sonic asked as he had both of his hands behind his head.  
"And what's are zoes plates on ze table, Princess?" Antione asked.   
"I have to talk to everyone about this mission. We've found something from Nichole that will put a stop to Robotnik." There were smiles and whoops when she said that. "But..."  
"But what, Sally girl.?"  
"Yeah, what's the news, Sal?"  
She looked at her teammates and friends and knew that she didn't wan't to put anyone in great danger. She had thought of herself as a co-leader of the Freedom Fighters and once Rotor explained the possibility of a plan with the Semtex expolsivies she knew the high risk/ high reward factor. They were making progress on the hit and run missions, but was the attempt worth it?  
"But there's something I have to tell everyone." She added with some despiar. "This is the mission, everyone. We're going to put an end to Robotnik, but I want to hear from everybody first,"   
The air froze inside the hut and distilled for a moment. There a few puzzled looks and gasps in the crowd. She looked at Sonic and saw that he was quite calm about the situation, but he had a collected look on him.  
"Well, I'm in it. We've been looking to shut 'Buttnik down sooner or later." Sonic made a thumbs up.  
"I second that, too." Bunnie added.  
"You have my blade, Princess,"   
"What's the plan, Sally?" Tails asked.  
She had their trust and commitment for the mission, and she new that every mission ment life of death. They probably knew that also, but she creditted them for taking part of it.   
"It's done." The Knothole's techinical specialists entered in the room.  
"And what iz that thinggy there you are holding, in your hands, Rotar?" Antione asked.  
"It's a remote control to active the Semtex explosives." Sally answered. "We hit Robotnik's generators, production factories, the works with these babies."  
"We hit the switch and BOOM! Robotnik's got nothing to stand on, and we nail him." Rotor clasped a fist into the air.  
Antione walked up to the table and picked up one of the Semtex explosives. They were a light flat, oval disk with some weight in the back for the systemicatic design and the crystal battery/explosive inside. It was much like a frisbee except the models where dark gray and small pieces jutted out from the disk in a cross shaped manner.  
"I made the explosives light weight so you can throw them like frisbees. The back of the explosive is covered with a sticky adhesive that's near impossible to get off and the code encyrpting in unbreakable, but there's a catch."  
"A catch?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah, once an explosive is activated, the detonation is almost infininate. You'll have to boogie out of there." Rotor explained.  
"...Talk about stacking the odds." Sonic sat straight and spreaded his legs out. "We'll, let's do it."   
"So you'll have to bomb the structures in succession. because of the remote control's reach."  
"Yeah," Rotar continued as if he forgot. "The signal of the remote is weakened due to the crystal energy. Give or take 50 yards on this babies."  
"Are you really going to do it, Sonic?" Tails asked him.  
Sonic turned halfway to Tails, who sat behind him, smiled and gave the thumbs up.  
"I'm going also, Sally girl." Bunnie added.  
"You are, my dear?" Antione asked with some nervousness.  
"Don't chy'll worry Antione. Once this is over, we won't have to worry about fighting any more."  
"Bunnie and I got this, 'Twan. You can watch the fort, while we're gone, if you like."   
Antione looked at Sonic with a pug look at him, after his comment. Sally took it as a rude comment herself and tried to avoid it.  
"So it's settled then, let's get ready and do this." Sally said.  
"How many explosives do you have Rotor?" Sonic asked.  
"I've made ten out of the crystal I got. That should be enough to hit all of Robotnik's hot spots.. Just make sure you two place them were they can do the most damage. Say like an energy reactior."  
"If things get too hairy, please make it back home." Sally said. She displayed so much care within it that she was serious about it.  
"Here, let me finish up the rest of these and we'll be set. I'll give it to you two when you're ready." Rotor exclaimed.  
"We'll be outside, Rotor, I got to go get Nichole," Sally quickly left out of the door.  
"Rotor, could you be just a dear and fix my arms and legs up a bit?"  
"No prob, Bunnie. Let me take care of that right now."  
Rotor and Bunnie left out to Rotor's workhut that connected to the hut they were in.   
Tails left to work on his Tornado, and it was just Sonic and Antione left in his hut. Sonic got up and was planning to go head over to Sally's hut, when Antione grabbed his shoulder. Sonic looked back at him in some surprise.  
"Make sure she comes back," Antione told him.  
"Will do, Ant," Sonic replied and nodded towards him.  
  
"There you are."  
She looked at her most valuable tool, named Nichole, lying upon her neatly made bed. how she forgot to bring it was her guess. It was one of her notable habits of picking up Nichole before leaving her hut.  
Sally picked up Nichole and flipped the viewing monitor up and turned her on. She picked up from were she she left off from last night. with a full scale map of Robotropolis.  
"Now we can get to-- Sonic!" She turned around in awe.  
Sonic stood in the front doorway of her hut, leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed and a small smirk running across his face. Sally walked towards him, tilting her heat a little and smiling in return.  
"--Business?" Sonic concluded.  
"...Yes. Rotor managed to place the frequency of the remote control with Nichole's base frequency."  
"Meaning?" Sonic scratched his head.  
"Meaning that we can monitor your progress and the Semtex."  
"Wow. You two have put some work into this."  
Sonic didn't know what to say at first, he knew that the misson was dangerous, risky and it'd worry Sally to death just for their safety. He knew that things would have to be done.  
"Sal...I, I want to make a promise,"  
"A promise?" She looked into his eyes.  
"Yeah," Sonic grabbed her shoulders. "Bunnie and I are coming back, rain or shine, so don't worry,"  
"Sonic, be careful." She embraced him.  
Without a moment's hesitation, she raised her head and kissed Sonic quickly on his lips and pressed up against him. Sonic held her in his arms. Sonic never seen Sally so emotional before and they never kissed like this before so he with with her and enjoyed the small moment of bracing love they were having together.  
"For good luck," She said.  
He saw a tear running down her cheek and wiped it off.   
"...Dispite your risk nature, I still love you. Just don't get killed out there,"  
"Will do,"  
Sonic began to walk away, knowing that perhaps his final mission, their conclusion to the long driven epic war between themselves and Robotnik would come to an end.  
"A party,"  
"Huh?"  
"We're going to have a big party when we get back. Chili dogs and everything!"  
"Ok," Her hopes had risen so that she smiled heartedly.  
She thought about staying in her hut and worrying about Sonic from the moment on when she couldn't she or touch him any more. Instead, she put her head up and walked with him, with risen hopes.  
  
After fixing up Bunnie's ligimates and talking a small deal about the mission, Rotor handed Bunnie two backpacks full of completed and finished Semtex explosives. He told her that he also made a second remote control for herself in case one gets lost or destroyed in action. With heartfeld thankfullness for everything he did for her metallic body, she left Rotor's workstation and was surprised to see Antione leaning on Rotor's hut napping.  
"Wake up, hon," She shaked Antione's shoulder.  
Antione studdered and mumbled, and began to grab the handle on his sword but then he saw Bunnie's smiling face above him and he was relieved for the moment.  
Bunnie, your finnally finized," Antione got to his feet.  
"You waited all this time for little ol' me?"  
"But of courze. I had to zee you again before you left." The two of them began to walk together. "I wish I could go with you."  
"I understand Antione." She understood of only Sonic and herfelf going on the mission. Not to have all their eggs in one basket. At least this way one person will be watching each other's back. Plus, with Antione and the gang at home, there would someone to protect Knothole from Robotnik if they didn't succeed. "We'll come back, so don't worry your head none."   
Their was a certain glint in her face when she said that that made everything seem better, it made him slightly calm about the situation, but it didn't stop his attitude and position upon the mission.  
"If Robotnik even touches you, he'll have to anszer to my blade!"  
She, herself, second the motion if that was nessacary. Hopefully such matters wouldn't be precautioned.  
Bunnie saw Sonic and Sally walking towards them and Sonic waived at them. Farther behind them, she saw Tails with a silver object in his hands, trailing them. They bundled together and looked at each other, wondering if they were ready to do the big mission.  
"Here ya go, Sugar."   
She handed Sonic the backpack and one of the two remotes. Sonic thanked her and placed the remote in his bookback. They both slung the bookbags over their shoulders, and looked at each other, mentally preparing each other for the mission. Bunnie figured that his speed would prove handy in their favor on the mission.  
"Are we good?" Bunnie asked.  
"Just in case, Tails will make a recon if you guys aren't out of there, so good luck you guys."  
Rotor ran out o his workstation just in time to wish them good luck.  
"Give me trouble, guys. Here, take these just in case you need them."  
Rotor handed them small digital watches.   
"Thanks, Rotor." Sonic said.  
Sonic and Rotor slapped hands, Sonic hugged Sally and Bunnie hugged Antione with thoughts of temporary good-byes.  
"Go way past, Sonic!"  
Tails high five Sonic and soon the two were heading out to Robotropolis to right the wrongs of the past and save the future from a menacing tyrant. 


	6. Infinity Battle

Chapter Five: Infinity Battle  
  
Metal Robotnik was almost finished. Just about anyway. Minor details such as the targeting system and mobility functions were being ironed out by his Shadowbots. He found out that the stone was in fact a very strong essence of power. His early testin readings had gone off the charts and deliberiately broke them. He remembered when he connected it to his battle robot, the stone emitted a dark blue glow and the entire robot was glowing with a sapphire colored outline during the trial and tribulations. It was amazing what the raw power of the Stone did for the Metal Robotnik. The aspects were uncanny, as his fuel was running at triple the power, the armor's defense mechinizism and overall duriablity dramatically increased to new levels unheard of, and he even unknownly released the power of the Stone in a strong, large focused beam. How he did it he didn't even know but when he did several Shadowbots and a back wall were desintigrated in the wake of destruction. Everything was going along to plan and even moreso increasing his chances of destroying Knothole, but he felt like something was missing to add to this wonderful day.   
It was those bothersome Freedom Fighters he had on his mind. They'd invade his quarters and try to put an end to him, no doubt. Fortunately, he was ever ready for him. He'd give them a surprise or two if they plan to show up tonight, and for some inuiative reason, he'd put money on it that they would show up tonight.   
"They'll have to get through my army of Shadowbots first." Robotnik said aloud.  
Robotnik checked his screens, there were no signs of any Mobians anywhere. It was quiet, too quiet in his fortress, except for the metallic clanking of his Shadowbot guards patrolling about. There was never the sound of quiet in Robotropolis, but when it was or felt like it, it made Robotnik uneasy about situations.  
Robotnik pressed a button on the armchair to signal more monitoring orbs in the second and third quadrants of Robotropolis. There was the chance that something would blow up without him even knowing so he had to be alert.   
Maybe they'll actually get to see Metal Robotnik in action before I decimate their forest.  
  
The sun setted behind the horizon , and even from the hazardous billow and smoke coming from pipes, the sky in Robotropolis had a reddish-orange color to it. The earth at Robotropolis was littered with high rising, buildings, robots and the very evil that made this place Robotnik's home.  
Sonic and Bunnie made it to the outskirts of Robotropolis and it was nessacary that they immidately had to take cover, for the numbers of patrolling Shadowbots and hoverunits were in far greater numbers than on a normal mission. The air sounded like it was looming with the low zipping sound of hoverunits, and the clanking noise of Shadowbots moving around didn't make things any easier. They took shelter behind a wall of a building and looked around for any signs of the enemy.   
"Looks like Robotnik's a-waiting for us," Bunnie said.  
"Yeah, making our job harder than we thought." Sonic said. "Let's hit it. Watch your back, Bunnie. Remember, if the plan derails bail back."  
"Got it, sugar. Be careful, hon."   
"You too."  
"I'm looking forward to that party as well, sugar," She informed him.  
Sonic smirked, knowing that his resolution had gotten ear, and that it would be one hell of a party for freedom once they earned it.   
The're fists tapped once in a vertical motion, twice and then their fists tapped together. Their pinkies overlapped each other's and then they pointed at each other. It's was a gesture they did for good luck on every mission.   
"It's cool." Sonic told her as he checked the path for any Shadowbots.  
They both left seperate ways, with the hope and desire that they'd put Robotnik under wraps once and for all.  
Sonic manuevered in the shadows and took a heed of caution towards anything coming at him. He pressed himself on a large building and stood to the wall with his senses on full alert. Assorted junk and old vehiciles were scattered about in the area that he was in. The good part was that the junk and old material could provide cover for him, but what if there was a trap waiting for him? It was things like that that made him very cautious in Robotropolis. Robotropolis could make a death ray with a camera flash if he wished. Setting that obscoure thought aside, Sonic slowly traversed the wall, and through the sounds and sights, it suddenly came to him as he was sneaking along the wall.  
"Wait a sec." Sonic stopped and looked up.  
There, indeed were large smokestacks a top of the building churning out heavy fumes of smoke.  
"Jackpot! This has to be a generator or something."   
Any farther along and he would have been clearly spotted by the camera orb floating by. The camera didn't instantly turn the corner, so Sonic had time to duck to avoid being spotted. The floating camera turned the corner of the wall and checked out the surroundings.   
Go already!  
The camera turned around and quickly moved to its predestined route on its predestined route.  
"Too close." Sonic thought as he wiped his forehead.  
Sonic ran up the wall of the building and prayed that nothing or nobody was stationed on the ceiling. He hopped on the top of the building and hit a crouching position.  
"No alarms going off. Good, I'm still in the clear."   
On top of the buliding, there were a couple of blue paneled window skylights to let air and sunlight in. Sonic slowly raised the window up and took a peak inside.   
"Oh, yeah!"  
Inside the building were large, active, slender looking objects, being protected by Shadowbots, other robots and the like. Sally said something eariler that the large engines were runned by turbines and turbines made a wavy, noisy sound.   
"Time to put this baby in use."   
Sonic tossed the backpack in front of him and took out a Semtex explosive and the remote control. A green light was on and bright on the remote control and Sonic took notice of it. It must of been an activation switch Rotor planted in.   
"Rotor did say that the back was adhesive. If I could chuck it on the generator from here, I don't have to worry about making a scene."  
So, going on his plan, Sonic threw the explosive frisbee-style at the front of the generator, and with success, it stuck to the top of the generator without any of the robots taking notice.  
From the moment he'd press the button, he knew that every Shadowbot and there mom would be on the wreakage like white on rice. He'd have to watch his back, and he saw hoverunits, but they were nowhere in the airspace of the building. He remembered what Rotor told him about the explosion and decided to high tail it first.  
"Here goes nothing!"   
Sonic pressed the activation switch and ran as fast as he could. He hightailed off of the building and jumped onto the ceiling of the nearest building. There was a deafening blast behind him that blew away the entire structure of the building. Sonic looked back and saw clouds of fire and debris shooting off in the air. Hoverunits whizzed through the air to the wreakage and familiar clanking lingered in the air.  
"What a punch! That'll sure get Buttnik's attention." Sonic looked around and saw that lights to the building structure were still operating. "Huh? What gives? Must've been a back-up!"  
Robotnik's power was still online, but they still had another chance. He just hope that Bunnie was faring well upon the situation  
  
Bunnie made it inside the huge Shadowbot factory from a ventaliation shaft, when he heard a large, muffled explosion so strong that it rattled her bones a bit. It sounded like Sonic had already started the fireworks without her. Seems that she better get started also.   
After the crawling episode in the rusty, web filled air duct, she kicked open the grate and looked down to see a iron bridge. She jumped onto the bridge and knelt down in a crouch as she landed.   
"Hope that no one's in," She thought.  
She was in the Shadowbot factory though, so there was a low chance of that happening. She heard rapid metal noises suddenly becoming distant in the air.   
'What in tarnation?" She asked herself.   
She didn't wanted to get spotted, but she looked over the railing anyway. She caught a glimspe of the last Shadowbots leaving out of the exit and the door closing and locking itself. To her luck, the factory was indeed empty. The only sounds she heard was of the machinery that kept producing more Shadowbots.  
"Time to shut this puppy down."  
First, she made sure that the coast was clear from all sides, and then she jumped over the railing to the ground floor. With a small thud, she placed a palm on the ground to hold her balance. Within her sight, she could see numerous assembly lines putting together Shadowbots piece by piece. On the long belt lines, there were robotic arms and machines at various points were structed to fix and create his robotic warriors. With her back to the nearest wall, Bunnie followed the assembly line to the beginning, if it had one.  
There was a small whiring noise and she looked up, it was a stationary camera positioned upon the assembly line and was paning the assembly line from left to right. Knowing about a camera's blindspot, she easily sneaked underneath it without any problems.   
Undected, she made it to the back of the building and saw the origin of the assembly line. A large tube, locked on the wall spewed out the nesseccary parts in order to construct a Shadowbot.  
"So that's how these bucket of bolts are made," She casually thought.  
Soon, she'd destroy it, and they'd be no more. They'd be one less pain in her side to worry about. Working fast, she put one of the explosives on the long tubing, and placed another put on under the assembly line.  
"All that's left is to head to high water and hit the switch."  
"[Intruder.]" A mechanical voice altered.  
A lurking Shadowbot came from the shadows quickly grabbed her arm and raised her in the air. She grunted and tried to pull her arm out, but the robot maintained a tight grip on her. The hulking Shadowbot viewed her with his red, scanning cybernetic eye.   
"[Surrender all hope now, and prepare to--]   
Had he been able to finish, she would've cared even less, but with a sharp kick to the Shadowbot's face, there wasn't a need to listen to the robot's technobabble. The rest of the body collasped over on the ground, and Bunnie was out of the robot's grip. Bunnie pulled out the remote switch out of the backpack.  
"Time to mosey on out of here!"  
More moving Shadowbots could be heard, she ran towards the entrance, but looked up and saw a step ladder for the bridge. She jumped, lunging at it with outstreched hands and grabbed it easily. She pulled herself up and saw the ventallation shaft within her sights.   
"Sonic!" She gasped.  
All of the Shadowbots leaving the factory, must've been exiting for something. Sonic must've been in trouble. There was no time to spare. Once she blew the factory sky high, she'd rendevous with Sonic and get the mess out of Robotropolis.  
  
"What the hell?" Robotnik nearly leapted out of his chair.  
It was clear as day in the evening sun as Robotnik saw the second of two buildings exploded in his monitor. He fumed with anger as he saw the colaberation of dust and fiery explosion going off into the air.  
"The generator and the Shadowbot factory in the thrid quadrant has been destroyed." An indicator telled him on the screen.  
It had to have been the Freedom Fighters, no doubt. They were always a force to underestimate, and how it seems that they themselves have gotten a hold of weapons of mass destuction of some sort. Either that or they self-destructed his systems somehow. Anyway, the point was that two important buildings of his was bursting into flames.   
"They're trying to dismantle me, piece by piece." He clearly moticed from the method of attack. "Too bad it won't work."  
Shadowbots and hoverunits were already stationed a plenty at the main generator, so there was no way they were going there. He was lucky that he ordered all of his Shadowbots out of the factory and to the wreckage site of the backup generator before the factory exploded. There was a hunch in the back of his head that it was the work of Freedom Fighters, but Robotnik wanted a visual or a prisoner to be sure, and not some freak accident on his part. Effortlessly, Robotnik presssed a green button on the metallic armrest of his chair. It was a communicator link between him and his Shadowbots.  
"Shadowbots at Quadrant Three, report! Status! Give me some visual!" Robotnik spouted out.  
[Sir, we've corralled the intruder and he's--]  
The connection on the line went dead except for static sounds of laser blasting and crunching metal. When Robotnik recieved a visual from on of his camera orbs, he was more than pleased, in a sadistic way.   
"All Shadowbots, report to Quadrant Three, and keep the hedgehog busy until I arrive."  
The Hedgehog, his sworn enemy was on chartering upon his grounds like always, but his inconvience would dearly cost him this time around.  
It was the perfect oppurtunity to captailize on the matter, and it would be best that he'd show up to personally take care of the situation.   
  
Sonic looked all around him and wondered how did he ever get in this mess. He was surrounded up to the teeth in Shadowbots. They posted positions on buildings, on the ground in heavy numbers, they had also possibily unintentaionally blocked his route to the main generator. Each and every one of them were fixated on him like predators hunting their prey.   
"Nothing's easy anymore," Sonic thought.  
The Shadowbots were located everywhere in the quadrant, and were only increasing in numbers, but Sonic only kept his cool and tightened his gloves. If it was one thing he knew how to do, it was to tear up shop, but things had just seemed very against the odds.  
Walking bolts and blue armor plagued the buildings and ground that was the third quadrant. There sure as heck was no way around it, but he wouldn't let them get it his way. Sonic remembered his promise he made to Sally, and he was sure to keep it for her. It seemed that Robtonik was undergoing a major development in Shadowbots, and it sure showed. Where was Bunnie right now?  
[Surrender, Sonic Hedgehog, and prepare for imprisionment.]  
"Big whoop, bucketheads. Get out of my way!" Sonic retorted.  
And with that, Sonic raced towards a line of Shadowbots in front of him. The robots facing him put one arm up and red laser beams shot out of their arms. Sonic zigged and zagged, losing the beams in their wake. In no time flat he was in front of the first wave of Shadowbots, jumped up and jump kicked one in the chest. Off of the leverage of the first Shadowbot, Sonic wipped around and jump kicked another Shadowbot, that fell over and took some friends with him. His path was blocked when more Shadowbots took the place of its fallen brothers and contiuned shooting. Sonic doubled back soon as his feet touched the ground and narrowly dodged the laser blasts passing him. Heading ot the other direction was a bad idea as well, as Shadowbots waited for him and drew their arms and fired. Sonic hurridly jumped in the air and avoided the blasts yet again. In an amazing balancing feat, Sonic landed a handstand on a Shadowbot's head and springed off just before another fired, and destroyed his comrad's head in a fiery explosion. Sonic spun into a ball, charged and pummeled any bots on the way down. With circuits and body parts flying everywhere, Sonic landed on the ground and narrowly rolled out of the way of a large blue, stomping foot. His swiftness and agility was more so put to the test when he was dodging blows swung by the Shadowbots. After getting tired of the tag game, Sonic jumped back to the open area of the street.  
"It's nice playing with you guys, but I got to go."  
As the mindless drones they were, the Shadowbots paid no attention to his words and advanced upon his position.   
Sonic looked and saw the Shadowbots closing in on him from both sides. They ran with the fury and aggression like noboy's own, and they were ready to assualt and capture him at all costs. Sonic looked ahead of him, and he found a means of his escape. Sonic reaced towards the wall of a building and started running up it, hoping to get some higher ground on the bots. The sky was getting dark as Sonic saw the cloudy sky, and buildings in his vertical state. Still in pursuit of the hedgehog. the Shadowbots fired laser beams at Sonic.  
"Man, don't these guys give up?"  
Sonic reached the top of the building and with enough speed, he launched himself in the air. Sonic gasped as he saw several Shadowbots greeting him on the rooftop of the building with arms raised.   
"Oh crud!" Sonic yelled.  
They were targeting him, and he'd be dead, and he'd broken the promise, but-- what was this?  
Something was tossing the Shadowbots like ragdolls off the roof. Numerous robot bodies were coliding with one another, until they were spirialing in the air. Something, or rather, someone had saved him in the nick of time.  
"Sugar hog!" Bunnie yelled out and waived.  
"Bunnie! She's safe!" Sonic thought as he relieved himself.  
Sonic landed on the rooftop and was happy enough to see Bunnie again, but their happiness was put on hold when a Hoverunit hovered in mid-air and was suspened in their direction.   
"How many did you hit, sugar?"   
"I got the backup generator, but that's all. You?"  
"The 'Bot factory is Kaput, but It looks like we'll have to duke it out."  
"No kidding, Bunnie. We may have to use those explosives"  
"I hope you two are having fun down there," A voice shouted over a audio feedback system.  
Sonic and Bunnie knew that voice too well, too well to predict who was in the hoverunit, the man who they were trying to shut down and take out of action all this time. The tyrant who had hurted others and quested for power.  
"Robotnik, why don't you come down here and say that!" Sonic yelled, hoping he'd get a piece of him.  
"I would, but sadly I don't have the time, but you'll have enternity!"  
The Shadowbots were making their way onto the building and had Bunnie and Sonic surrounded. They stood still, but didn't fire at them. What excatly was Robotnik planning? Bunnie and Sonic stood back to back as Shadowbots had encircled the entire building.  
"You two must feel successful upon the destruction of those buildings that mean importance to me."  
"You're right about that, lard butt!" Bunnie replied.  
"But how are you two planning to escape when Sonic doesn't even have a power ring?!" Robotnik yelled.  
"What the...?" Bunnie and Sonic gasped.  
It was the effects of asborbing the power of the Sapphire that made him able to sense energy mentally and pshysically. The Sapphire Stone was quite a marvelous product, if he said so himself.  
"I got one of these, and it'll blow you sky-high!" Sonic took out an explosive out of his backpack, and threw it onto Robotnik's hoverunit.  
The explosive latched onto the hoverunit and stuck on the front side of the vechile. For some reason, the hoverunit didn't budge an inch from where it was suspended.  
"...You think that scares me?" Robotnik scoffed in confidence and pride.  
There was an electrical distrubance in the air, that sizzled and conducted with sounds in the air, but nothing could've been heard or seen. Bunnie looked down at the remote for the Semtex and saw that it wasn't reacting to anything.  
"Sonic! The remote!" Bunnie told him.  
Sonic looked at his and experienced the same thing. The button on the remote, faded out and died.  
"My electro-magnetic pulse worked perfectly! Don't you know that you're dealing with state of the art technology here! You're out of your league. Shadowbots, I want them alive, seieze them!"   
"Any ideas?" Sonic peered over his shoulder.  
A lone Shadowbot ran towards them, ready to scoop them up in his arms. Bunnie charged back and punched the bots chest so hard that it left a crater hole where plating and wires used to be. She ripped her arm from the cavity of its body and the body fell to the ground.  
"I'll fight until I can't breathe anymore, suga," Bunnie told him.  
"Let's tear tome metal, and get outta here!" Sonic replied.  
Multiple lasers were fired and Sonic jumped in the air. Bunnie had managed to bypass the onslaught of red beams by ducking low. Bunnie ran with her body to the ground, jumped out and uppercuted a Shadowbot's head off. While in mid-air, she grabbed a Shadowbot's arm and kicked the bot's body so hard, that the body seperated clean off from the entire arm she was holding. Bunnie made use of the arm and smashed it with a massive smash on the head of another Shadowbot, and used his body for cover when Shadowbots started firing their lasers. The Shadowbots decided to change plans from an all out attack to a more simple stragetey. The Shadowbots started to throw out iron coils wiring at Sonic and he dodged many and took out some Bots in the process with cunning agility, but a coil snagged his foot and was dive bombing to the ground. Sonic was stunned long enough for multiple coils striking like snakes and wrapping around Sonic's arms and legs. The coils wrapped around Sonic's body like they had a mind of their own and zapped him with an electrostatic current. Sonic yelled but subdued and hauled off by the Shadowbots.   
Bunnie had just jumped kicked a Shadowbot's head off when she heard Sonic yelled out in pain. She ran after him, but a coil out of nowhere wrapped around her neck and strangled her.  
"Sonic!" Bunnie yelled.  
The coil grew tighter and tighter and she coughed and fought to get it off, and fell to her knees. An electrostic charage was sent through the coil and shocked Bunnie throguhout her entire body. She yelled for all that she could, moaned quietly and collasped to the ground, with the last sounds of metal clanking and evil laughing ringing in her ears before hitting unsciousness.   
  
"They're not responding..."  
"What?"  
Sally and Rotor were both watching Nichole's monitor in astoundment as the remaining cluster of blips disappered totally from off the screen.  
"Something's not right." Rotor smashed his fist on the wall of his house. "We got to do something!" Rotor turned and looked at Sally.  
Sally tried to establish a frequency connection with the remaining explosives, but to no avail was a connection working.  
[The explosives seem to be offline, Sally] Nichole told her.  
"Oh!" Sally scoffed in frustration.  
"Robotnik must've gotten to them, we got to do something."  
Sally closed her eyes and thought about Sonic, and knew that it wasn't the first time that he wound up in trouble, but what if Robotnik was pulling out all the stops this time? What if he was gearing weapons of mass destruction aimed directly at Knothole Forest and the means of stopping him was stuck at Robotropolis in some holding cell, or worse...  
"I trust them, and they'll come out on top, Rotor," She held her hand to her chest."Have Antione scout the outer area of Robotropolis to see if there around."  
"Ok, but I got to do something, Sally. I feel like it's my fault, they trusted me with my machines and I failed..."  
"Oh, Rotor. Don't say that. There must've been some reason why the frequency was diconnected." She walked over and put a hand on Rotor's massive shoulder for support. "I miss them too, but we got to be ready for anything."  
"...Thanks, Sally. I'm going to help Tails touch up his Tornado for old Iron Lips. If something comes up, tell me."   
"...Ok. I might have to rally everyone in the center area, so don't go too far off." She replied.  
"Allright!" Rotor responded with a new sense of vigor in his voice.  
Rotor ran off, with determined hopes to set things straight. To make a bigger change within his limits.  
She looked into the sky and saw the sun ready to go on and under the horizion. The final days of the sun reminded her of the final hour that she predicted. They pitted themselves against Robotnik for once and for all; fighting for the very freedom that they once had. Why didn't she go with him, instead of staying at Knothole? If they failed or succeeded she wanted to be with him, but maybe Sonic was thinking more than just that.   
"Sonic, Bunnie. What's happened to you? Don't die on us." 


	7. POW

Chapter Six: P.O.W.'s  
  
When she awoke she could hear small yet steady macherinery sounds about in the room, and a shinning ceiling light beamed upon her. She slowly fluttered her eyes opened, and tried to move, but to her avail, she found herself latched down to something that suspended herself looking up at the very ceiling.  
"Sonic?" She called out.  
The small room was devioded of any living beings able to help her. Her intrested peaked when Sonic was no where to be found within the small room. She tried to break out of the restraints holding her down on the table, but the restraints only made her breathe heavily from expanding so much energy.  
"So now what?" She thought.  
Robotnik had her trapped in a small room and if it was one thing she didn't like, she definately didn't like small rooms. Sonic's whereabouts and status was unknown to her, and Robotnik had utterly made some super armor restraints designed speficially made for the likes of herself.  
Terrific.  
In a flash, she thought about Knothole and her friends and getting back from from the monster she had to face again and again.  
On her second try, she put more strength and power into it; bearing down and gritted her teeth against each other but still couldn't make due.  
"Not even an inch!" She yelled.  
Then she remembered that she was in Robotropolis and quickly silenced herself. No doubt that Robotnik was spying on her through a camera or soemthing. She sure despised him.  
She took in a breath of air , and relaxed all of her muscles and joints. Her body went through the wringer fighting all those Shadowbots and they still didn't manage to escape. Maybe she hit the Shadowbot Factory at the wrong time.  
"There sure were more Shadowbots out there than usual. All those Shadowbots we saw...wait a pickin' minute, with all those 'Bots, he's planning an army or something!"  
The thought was indeed skeetchy, but it was the best thought she had on the fly and she wasn't really at a position for giving twenty questions to herself.  
"I gotta get out of here and find Sonic somehow! I hope he's allright." She thought as she tried to break the restriants again.  
Just then, the sound of a moving door stopped her attempts of breaking the restraints. There was a pair of metaliic feet and boots tapping footsteps upon the metal floor. She paused and gasped at the sound of diabiocal laughter ringing through her ears.  
whirring, machinery gears started up, and the table began to turn from a vertical position to a horizontal position. Her eyes lit up with anger and hate when she saw the figure in front of her.   
"We meet again, Bunnie Rabbot. Hopefully, for the last time."  
It was the fat, nototrious villian, known to her as Robotnik rearing his ugly mug and ivory smile around the likes of herself. He stood at the other end of the room with two Shadowbots, each at his side with his hands behind herself. She wanted to get out of the restriants just to get at him for all that he done.  
"You don't look scared, yet you should be."  
"Just th' more to drop kick yer' ol' sorry behind!" Bunnie retorted.  
"For the Princesses' assosiate, you're quite the fiesty one. I like that."  
His voice creeped her out; It chilled her insides.  
"...Where's Sonic?" She asked.  
"Preparing to be roboticized right now. You'll be joining him soonly, my dear," He replied. "Now that I look at you, you are quite the unfinished specimen, Bunnie. You don't know whether you want to be a robot or a rabbit." Robotnik chuckled as he eyed her body.  
"Thanks to your dirtywork."  
Robotnik moved closer to his prisioner, and smiled at her with his cold, merciliess grin.  
"You know, I could very well finish what I intended to start." He grabbed Bunnie's face by the cheeks and forced her to look up as she grunted, trying to avert him.  
"But I have a better idea. I'm going to take you apart, arm by arm, leg by leg and see what makes you tick. I want to see how your bodily systems work in conjunction with your cybernetic parts."  
"Like I'd let you!" Bunnie snapped in a sarcastic way.  
Robotnik let her go and walked backwards, towards the entrance."As much as I would enjoy it, I have my Shadowbots to do that work for me. I have to depart, for there is a large land of forest I have to go decimate. You may know it quite well." Robotnik taunted.   
"No!" She shouted.  
"Yes! With my newest creation I am unstoppable, so you might as well bow down to me now, before my army of Shadowbots kill everyone in Knothole, my pretty."  
"Never."   
"Yery well then, by the time I return, you'll be in parts and I'll have one less pain to worry about. Begin procedure." Robotnik ordered. "I'll tell that coyote friend of your you said hello."   
With a sinister laugh, he left the room and left Bunnie hot enough to melt ice, but not hot enough to break the restriants. She knew that if she was about to get out of this predictiment, she now had to find Sonic and stop Robotnik's newest assault on Knothole. but an army of Shadowbots, that was a scary thoguht to behold, and one heck of a fight they'd have if they reached Knothole. She wouldn't let that happen, not on her watch, she had a life mission to fulfuil and that was to see the day that Robotnik would be a threat no more.  
The hulking, clunking Shadowbots moved closer to her, and out of their arms came out razorblades and numerous cutting utensils. The quick moving saws whirrled in the air at such a high spped that it made Bunnie jumped when she looked at it.  
"Oh my stars! I bettuh think of something fast or I'm a goner! But what...?"   
  
Two of Robotnik's iron-clad Shadowbots entered the Robotizer chambers via an electronical field bypass system. One Shadowbot dragged Sonic's unconscious body by his handcuffed hands and the other Shadowbot walked pass the idle robotizer onto a wall with a two switch panel. The Shadowbot pressed a button on the panel and a grating wall slid up. The second Shadowbot tossed Sonic into the enclousure pad, and walked towards an active monitor. Sonic skidded across the flat floor, and rolled around the floor like a he just flunged out of a runaway car. Sonic's body had just happened to stop in front of the feet of anoter inmate.  
The cat captive looked down at Sonic and noticed his eyes flickering and his body twiching back to consciousness. The cat cooly looked at the hedgehog kid coming to and wondered whetever he knew what he was in store.  
Sonic came to and sat up, indian style. He grunted and took notice of the shackles on his wrists and ankles. He tugged on the hand shackles, but they proven to be very restrantive on him.   
"Bunnie...!" Sonic shouted and looked in front of him.  
"Your girlfriend?" the cat remarked with arms folded.  
"No...just a firend of mine here," A pain shot through Sonic's arm and he held it.  
"If she's here then she's probably dead by now. Quite a pity really,"  
"I doubt it," Sonic snapped back. Sonic knew more about Bunnie than this Mobian did, and he didn't want to get into an arguement at such a crucial time.  
A low humming sound buzzed into the air and a light vibration from the machinery rumbling on the ground floor.  
"Jeez, the Roboticizer..." Sonic turned around and faced the grating gate.  
"Ya scared boy. Heh, you should be. Any Mobian who comes here never comes back. I'm about due but thanks for joining me. What's your name, kid?"  
"Sonic." He showed some respect for his elders, but he didn't plan to lay out for him. Sonic stood up."Look, we're getting out of here."  
The cat stood up and Sonic could see how taller he was than him. He stood a good one and a half feet over him, and he showed signs of age in the prison.  
"What makes you think that you'll do that?"  
"Robotnik hates my guts, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's ordered his bots to roboticize us. If I can just get out of these shackles, I'll do the rest."  
"You're so conifident boy, not an ounce of fear within ya." He thought about his escape plan with the piece of metal he used to unlock his shackles and fake the illusion that he was captured. He could've escaped by the Shadowbots when they took prisoners out, but he never tried. Because of his dark complexion, he stayed in a dark section of the room for safety and survival.  
Sonic was going to reply but the sound of clanking feet got his greater attention. The grating gate slid open and an outstreched hand grabbed the cat by the throat. The cat choked and tried to fight it, hitting the hand with closed fists, but the robot's strength was incalcuabe to his own.  
"Do...what I should've done, Sonic!" Cat's voice trialed off out of the room, and the gate closed.  
Sonic grunted in frustration, and looked down. Near his feet was a metal wire and a name scratched in the ground.   
"Thanks, Amel."  
He went to grab the piece wirey metal when he heared something going on in the other room.  
"Report to the docking bays after you robotizice the Hedgehog." He heard Robotnik's voice in the room.  
From where he was, he couldn't see if Robotnik was in the room or not, but knowing that he was going to be robotiziced didn't help him any much. Sonic grabbed the wire and tried to reach an opening, but the wire was too short. He then quickly grabbed the wire with his teeth and brung the shackles to his face. Hepryed the wire in the small opening on the shackles and heard small metallic clicks within. The shackles clicked and fell off of his hands.  
"Yeah," He siad.  
He grabbed the wire out of his mouth and worked on his ankle shackles., when he heard the grating gate open. He pried the shackles even harder to free himself. Once his feet were free, no one was stopping him, but the Shadowbots were already perched at the front of the enclousure looking at him.  
"Come on," Sonic pleaded.  
Finally, the ankle shackles fell off and a Shadowbot extended his hand out to grab Sonic. Sonic saw it just in time to deflect it with a well timed kick. The hand richoceted on the wall and Sonic ran through the Shadowbots and crashed through them with his amazing speed.   
"Amel?" Sonic called out.  
He looked at the Robotizicer and found that it was empty.   
"Amel must've escaped, but Bunnie, I got to find her also."  
There was the feeling that she was alright, but in Robotnik's complex for a fortress, there was no way to be sure.   
Sonic dashed to the door and pressed a switch on it. The door parted and Sonic got ready to deal with any robots waiting for him, but surprisingly, there was nothing but an empty hallway.   
The mission wasn't over yet, even though he could find Bunnie and escape, but Robotnik at the docking bays didn't sound to safe for him. The mission was still on, just altered. He'd find Bunnie and stop Robotnik at the docking bays. 


	8. Metal Robotnik

Chapter Seven: Metal Robotnik  
  
Bunnie gasped and was catching her breath as he ran at a sprinter's pace.  
She was lucky to escape with the grafted, extenstion arm material that Rotor created in her robotic arm. She had extended her arm out and grabbed onto anything she could find and threw it at the Shadowbots. Luckily, she grabbed onto a large piece of steel piping and totalled the Shadowbots out of commision. Once they were done, she heard a sound of fire burning and tried to grab it; hoping that it'd help her and not burn herself in the process. It was a torchlight carried by the Shadowbots just recently. She used it to escape out of the unbreakable restraints and escape.  
When the robots were communicating to each other about the docking bays and Metal Robotnik, it was less than she hoped her. Robotnik had made a diabocial scheme to take over Knothole with a new weapon, but she knew that she had to stop it.  
"Now where's the blasted docking bays...Ahh!" She yelped.  
Shadowbots were chasing her and firing laser back at her. She picked up the pace and continued running down a highly lit, corrider, dodging laser beams whizzing past her body. At the end of the corrider she came to a T-intersection and three sealed up holes on the wall in front of her. They were labled jettision tubes.  
"Well, maybe those tubes will take me there." She thought.  
She was almost out of the clear when a Shadowbot turned on the T-intersection corner and aimed at her. Bunnie gasped and slid, avioding the laser beam that was aimed at her head, and slided inbetween the Shadowbot's legs. She stood up and pushed the Shadowbot towards its commrads and the commrads shot a laser at the bot, intending it to hit Bunnie. Bunnie kicked the glass covering the tube open and jumped in.   
The dark slide went on and on and twisted and turned. The tunnel was indeed picth black and she knew that the tube wasn't meant for Mobians to ride in. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best, that it'd take her where she needed to go.  
When the ride was over, she went through some plastic flappings on the tube and landed on hard, metal ground.   
"Nice ride," she thought.  
She looked up and saw hoverunit ships stationed and an exitway on the other side of the room. She looked on a wall and a sign with DOCKING BAYS written on it confrimed that she was where she needed to be. There was only hoverunits here though, Robotnik's newest weapon was nowhere to be seen.  
"Bunnie!" She heard someone yell her name.  
She stood up and saw a blue blur sped towards her. It was Sonic alright, and he was doing well.  
"Bunnie, thank goodness." Sonic said.  
"I'm glad you're safe, Sonic. I heard about Robotnik's newest weapon to be here, but I don't see it here. What if we were to late?"  
"Then we better better jam back to Knothole," Sonic thought as he smashed one fist into his open palm.   
They both looked at the exit for the hoverunits closing and Shadowbots entering the docking bay section giving chase to them and firing at them.  
"What now?" Bunnie asked.  
Sonic looked around, quickly paning his head, scoping out the surroundings, and he saw a Shadowbot going down an elevator on the side of a wall .  
"Towards the elevator! I got a hunch!" Sonic shouted over the laser beams and clanking metal.  
Bunnie and Sonic ran towards the elevator, dodging laser blasts and hoping that Robotnik's weapon would still be in his complex. Bunnie smashed the elevator doors open and the two of them grabbed on the elevator cables and slid down the elevator shaft to the elevator. Bunnie tore open the top of the elevator and Sonic jumped down the tear and stomped on the head of the Shadowbot inside. He grabbed at some wires around the Shadowbot's neck and pulled them out, instantly short circuiting the robot.  
"I wonder where this here elevator is going?" Bunnie said as jumped down and landed on the body of the robot.  
"Beats me." Sonic replied. "Just get ready for anything."  
The elevator continued down and stopped with a PHOOMP sounds on the bottom floor. The elevator opened and the two looked out of the doors cautiously.   
"We must be underground." Bunnie thought.  
The white lights beamed upon them hanging on the ceiling as they looked high above from the catwalk they were standing on. Any traces of the earth were nil to none. The ceiling was of a smooth, shiny metal and everywhere they looked in Robotnik's underground facility was nothing but metal. Boxes and macheriney inside lied around in the facility idly. The two walked on the metal catwalk and saw how empty and devoided of life the place was.  
"Look!" Bunnie pointed out in front of them.  
North of them was a giant figure standing. The catwalk led them straight to it. Sonic and Bunnie ran towards what could be Robotnik's newest weapon.  
"We got to take it out. No telling what Robotnik's plans are." Sonic said.  
"Right, Sugar" Bunnie replied.  
The catwalk brached around the giant figure that was staring them at the face, when they reached it. They looked in awe at the sheer look of it. The robot was draped in a dark black cape and only its' rounded head with three spikes portruding out could only be seen. The area around it itself was low lit and hard to see.   
"Beginning final check...what? You two!" Robotnik's voice blared on an intercom system.  
"We're not out of the game by a long shot, Buttnik!" Sonic retorted.  
"We'll I didn't take it for a surprise that you two would escape, but to reach Dark Ocean was quite astrodinary. I can finally test Metal Robotnik in combat! BWAA HAA HA! See you in heaven, Freedom Fighters!"   
The red eyes of MR flashed over it's metal mouthpiece and the ceiling lights flickered on, making all of Metal Robotnik totally visible to Sonic and Bunnie. The mech threw the cape behind his body, revealing a black pot belly exterior with a shiny, grey circular area and yellow plates on the sides. Small grasshopper like legs were holding the entire robot up, and the two wondered how MR managed to stand under all that weight. The arms had huge, red shoulder pads on them and the arms were skinny with the lower parts of the arm covered in a protective armor. The hands were large circles with fingers that were circular and hollowed, as if something could be fired from them.  
MR raised one arm and brung it down on the catwalk, shattering it into pieces. Sonic and Bunnie dodged it and ran to a side of the remaining catwalk. Sonic's side broke and collasped, and fell to the ground. In his sytlish manner, Sonic leapt and kicked off the debirs and leapt towards MR. Sonic charged into a tackle and struck Robotnik straight in the chest. Sonic bounced off the robot and landed off the ground.  
MR brushed off the area that Sonic hit him and laughed.  
"Try your best, Sonic. You'll never break through this armor." MR pointed at the point where Sonic struck him.  
"Didn't scratch him at all. Dang." Sonic replied.  
"Shut yer mouth, Robotnik!" Bunnie yelled.  
Bunnie jumped off the railing leapt and struck Robotnik, but MR put his arm up and blocked the attack, MR backhanded Bunnie away and aimed his hand at her. MR's fingers moved and formed into one weapon. Sonic ran at Bunnie and jumped towards her. Robotnik fired a spray of bullets out of his fingers. Sonic grabbed Bunnie and dodged the path of incoming bullets. Sonic and Bunnie landed on the ground and they were followed by the spray of incoming bullets. Sonic zoomed in one direction and Bunnie ran in another direction. MR's other hand formed into a nozzle and he targeted both of them. Sonic zigged and zagged to avoid the bullets, leapt and jump-kicked MR in the face. MR's head whipped back, and Sonic flipped in mid-air and stuck with a tackle again, but he bounced off the metal armor.  
While his attention was focused on Sonic, Bunnie grabbed the nearest object she could, a metal pipe and threw it at MR's torso like a javelin. The pipe traveled so fast in the air, that it penerated the armor halfway through his armor.  
"You'll pay for that!" Robotnik said.   
Bunnie ran at Robotnik and looked at his arm to see a dark blue object on his hand, maybe if she could strike it while Sonic was dealing with it, they'd be able to damage it somehow. Unfortunately, she loss sight of the blue object and was looking down the barrel of his hand gun. The barrel made a charging sound and light was enamating from inside. Bunnie gasped and covered her face with her arms.   
"No you don't!" Sonic ran at MR.  
MR saw Sonic coming and stragetically decided changed his ammunation. He fired at Sonic as Sonic jumped at him and nailed Sonic with his sticky gooey, ammo. The velocity of the ammo sent Sonic hurlting down on the ground, his feet and legs were stuck in a gluey, sticky substance.   
"No!" Sonic yelled.  
MR fired and a ball came out of the barrel quick and fast with a PHOOMP sound. The blast exploded on contact in the ground in front of Bunnie and knocked Bunnie away and into a pilliar at unpallel speeds. She let out a soft moan and sunk to the floor.  
"Heh heh heh, I'll be taking her." MR walked along the floor and scooped her up. Sonic looked at him with the utmost of anger and hatred. "If you excuse me, Sonic my army of Shadowbots awaits!"  
The cape disitigrated as a plair of dark wings flapped from behind his back, and a rocket pack appeared also. Behind MR, the wall parted, showing the the dusk of the evening sky and the city of Robotropolis. Sonic tried to get free but Robotnik had laughed in his efforts to do so.  
"The next time you see Knothole, it'll be a big, smoking crater in the ground! No one can stop me! Farewell, Rodent, for I have finally won! Bunnie here will join me at my side during the post-apoycalypse of your forest. With a lot of programming she;ll be good as new." MR turned around and ran towards the exit.   
"No! I won't let that happen!" Sonic ripped at the gooey material furiously.  
The engines on his rocket pack strated up and blasted him into the air. MR turned around to the underground base and raised his arms up. The yellow plating moved and a missile with a spiked top appeared.  
"A farewell present for you, rodent, goodbye."  
The missile fired and Robotnik sped into the air with extrodianiary speed, with assistance of the power of the Sapphire Stone. He headed to the front of the central core base where his Shadowbots awaited him.  
Sonic kicked the last of the sticky stuff off and saw the missile coming at him in his sights.  
"Time to bail!"  
Sonic ran by the missiles and hurriedly sped off the hangar door. The missiles exploded in the facility and destroyed all the equipment and materials within. Sonic dove out of the facility doors in the nick of time to avoid getting singed by the deafening explosion.  
Sonic looked up, admist the flying debris raining around him, and saw that he was on the outskirts of Robotropolis but on the opposite side. The mountains were facing him.  
"That was a close call, but I got no time to spare. Knothole's in danger." Sonic thought.  
In the air, he saw the mech flying in the distance and a large number of Shadowbots moving in the Great Forest's direction.  
Sonic ran back towards the city of Robotropolis as fast as his feet would take him, knowing that the fate of everyone living in Knothole would be decided tonight. 


	9. The Final Hurrah

Chapter Eight: The Last Hurrah  
  
The evening sky stood still on the horizon, and the trees stood still with no trace of wind blowing in the air. Tails and Antione were positioned on the outskirts of the Great Forest taking watch for anything, or in their case, a Robotnik sighting.   
"I hope Sonic and Bunnie are ok." Tails thought  
"Yes, Tails, I think of the same, but I wonder vhat's Robotnik up to." Antione kept watch on Robotropolis with a pair of eyegoggles.   
Tails hopped on a rock and looked around out of sheer boredom, and Antione kept watch.  
"Cheese and crackers!" Antione shouted.  
"What, Antione?"  
"Something's coming towards us!" Antione shouted.  
Tails peered at Robotropolis and saw a massive wave of blue heading towards them and something flying in the sky, heading towards them at a steady pace.  
"Tails, We got to report now!" Antione said as he held to the handle of his sword.  
"Right."  
They retreated into the dense region of the Great Forest, looking back rarely at the terror that they hoped to avoid.  
  
"How many where there?" Sally asked.  
"We couldn't tell, there was a giant wave of them heading for the Great Forest!" Antione replied.  
"And there was something in the air also." Tails added.  
"What's the ETA?"  
'They were on the outskirts of Robotropolis when we say them so I'd say 3-4 minutes until they breech the Great Forest."  
"Darn it." Rotor said with crossed arms.  
"No sign of Sonic and Bunnie?"  
"Negative." Antione hanged his head down. "What should we do, Princess?" Antione asked.  
"How's the modification on Tails biplane going?"  
"It's good to go. We managed to scrap machine guns and missiles on it to make it a worthy fighter." Rotor told her.  
Sally didn't reply for the moment, Sally had lost Sonic and Bunnie to the hands of Robotnik, and she didn't want to lose the child that she took in as a nephew. Even at such a dire moment, there were sacifices to make.  
"I can do it Aunt Sally. I can slow them down at least, until we can figure out a way to stop Robotnik and his army."  
"Oh Tails..." She soon forgot how bright and intellegent Tails was for his age and knelt down and put her arms on his shoulders. Her mind still told her not to let him go, but there wasn't many other options to choose from. Knothole wasn't really made as a defense bunker. The villiage hiding in the depths of the Great Forest was the defense they needed, but if her assumptions were corect, Robotnik's army would tear through the Forest and get to them.  
"Sally, I got an idea! I remembered when Sonic's and Bunnie's remote control signals disappeared, and remembered that they were on a frquency. Given some time, I can make a pulse that could disrupt the Shadowbots on their given frequency as well."  
"Great, but we'll have to buy you time to make such a machine."  
I got a machine but I have to make the modifications, give or take one or two minutes."  
"...We might not have that time if they hurry..." Sally thought with her chin on her palm.  
"Leave that to us, Princess!" Antione fearlessly said.  
"What?" Sally jumped.  
"If Rotor needs the time, then will give him the time Aunt Sally," Tails added.  
"Yes, besides there are worst things then death, Princess." Antione took his sword out of his sheath and clutched the handle tightly in his palm. "Like losing the people you care about in this war."  
Sally suddenly thought about Sonic and the last moment she felt his warm body against hers and the last thing he said to her..."We're going to have a big party when we get back. Chili dogs and everything!"  
New emotion sparked inside of her, emotion of love and war and success and hope ran through her mind. They were going to get through it, with or without Sonic by her side.  
"...Ok. We're going to do it!"  
"Allright! I'll get my plane ready!" Tails shouted as he ran off out of the hut.  
"Ok, I'll meet you guys in the Great Forest when I'm ready!" Rotor ran off in the house.  
Sally and Antione were the ones inside of Sally's hut and they looked at each other with intentive eyes.  
"You miss zim, don't you?" Antione asked.  
"Yeah, Antione."  
"I wish Bunnie and Sonic were here right now. They were so collected in the heat of battle. They were zo used to raw, physical fighting that it came normal to them. Even given Sonic's brash attitude."  
"Heh, yeah...Come on, Antione! We can't stall now, I'm going to get everyone to evacuate Knothole Villiage and try to recuit some Freedom Fighters to help you."  
"Right."  
"Be careful, Antione."   
"We will do, my princess," Antione saluted to her.   
  
Sonic quickly caught up with Robotnik and his Shadowbot army and hid behind a large rock on the plains field. From the looks of things, the army of Shadowbots were practicaly waiting at the Great Forest boundary. What was Robotnik up toxcx? Robotnik hovered above his army with Bunnie still captive in hand.  
"What to do. Think Hedgehog."  
But before he could even blink, Robotnik's mech was flew off with a burst of speed into the depth airspace of the Great Forest.  
"Residents of Knothole Villiage, unless you surrender and hold alligence to I, Doctor Robotnik, I will annililate the GREAT FOREST! Those who surrender head to the outskirts of Robotropolis and surrender to my army of Shadowbots. Those who aren't willing however, will have nowhere to turn to once I disintigrate your prescous forest. The choice is yours..."  
"He can't be serious!All of the Mobians, the Great Forest, Sally..."   
Maybe he and Bunnie underestimated the power that Robotnik put into Metal Robotnik. Maybe he was just bluffing. One thing was for sure, he couldn't just sit around behind a rock all day.   
Sonic dashed from the rock and headed towards the Great Forest boundary. Several Shadowbots fired at him, but they missed greatly. Besides, Sonic had only worried about one thing as he was cutting through the air like a cutting blade--Robotnik.  
  
When she heard the message play, she knew it was for real. She couldn't see the enemy, but hearing him, from within the Great Forest made her spine chill to the bone.  
Sally directed all of the inhabitants away from Knothole, opposite of the direction of Robotropolis to a small field of lands that held caves that they could hide. In the midst of the confusion and fields of Mobians, Rotor swam through and cutted through fellow Mobians with the invention in hand.  
"What about Tails and Antione!" Rotor yelled.  
"Pray that they got the message!" Sally responded, swimming through people as well just to stay within earshot of the communication.  
Rotor knew how Antione would get in the heat of action, wanting to show his bravery and the like, and this episode was like no other.   
"I'm going for Antione!" the words trailed as he headed off in the other direction.  
"Rotor..!" She yelled at him, but there was no turning back for the warlus.  
  
"So, this is how the final chapterre is ritten," Antione said as he ran through the brush and trees.   
The Shadowbots weren't going to get to the Mobians as long as he's around, and if he'd died trying then so be it. Bunnie did her best and yet, it got her and the Mobians no where. When he heard no news of the Semtex operation, he knew something was wrong. Why didn't he go with her.  
"I stayed to protect Knothole and by my steel, I'll live up to it."  
Soon he'd reach the edge of the Great Forest and have to battle the army of Shadowbots alone. Something he never done before. He always fought with someone, and that made things feel easier around when somone was by his side. Bunnie was like that, she was a confidence builder when she was around, her attitude and personality made him feel like he was a true warrior in battle, that he had no limits, but Robotnik took her away from him, and he would pay in one form or another. At least his Shadowbot ranks would be cut down a bit.  
The trees and brushes hit him while he ran through and he saw the large, stationary rock that marked the edge of the Great Forest.  
"My fate awaits," Antione said as he pulled out the sword from his sheath.  
  
Sonic sped through the forest, hopping and quickly moving through the grass and trees along his path. TIme was of the essence, and he didn't have any to spare. With his mind focused and his mission set, he exploded through the forest with mind blowing speed. THere was somethig or someone up ahead, waving at him. Sonic put on the brakes and screeched to a halt, kicking up dust and dirt in the person's direction.  
"Jeez! Hey, Sonic! You're alive!" Antione said as he brushed himself off.  
"Yeah, but I can't chat now..." Sonic put one foot in the air and was soon to be off.  
"Where's Bunnie? Is she ok?"   
Sonic looked at Ant and gave a look of grimmance.  
"What? Where is she?"  
"I got to time to explain, Ant, I'll get her back though."  
"Wait, Sonick!"  
Sonic zoomed deeper into the forest, leaving his friend with only more questions, but he simply had no time to answer him.   
"Wait! How am I supposed to get up in the air against him?"  
Granted, air battles wasn't his speciallity but he had to find some way up there. Ahead of him in the dense forest was a large tree coming out of the ground, angling at an angle up into the air.  
"Hmm, that gives me an idea.!"  
The idea was sure as heck a long shot, but Sonic positioned his arms straight and behind him and nearly doubled his speed. With the wind blowing by his face, and the determination growing stronger within him, Sonic ran up into the tree trunk and shot out of the end like a cannon. Sonic covered his face going through the tree trunks and leaves and bursted through the forest ceiling clean into the sky.  
  
"With the Sapphire Stone at my disposal, the Great Forest shall be nothing more than a mere crater!" Robotnik laughed.  
Once Knothole Villiage was a speck of dust, nothing stood between him and world conquest. Those Freedom Fighters began to be a painful thorn in his side. Those he didn't comply with, he eliminated, end of story.  
From within the torso of the mech, he began to activate the power consumption from the Sapphire Stone when something caught his eye.  
"Huh?"  
"We end this now Robotnik!" Sonic shouted.  
Robotnik looked around and saw Sonic flying straight him. What the hell, how did he ever manage to fly now? Robotnik raised his hand and smacked Sonic out of the air.  
"And thus that ends that petty game," Robotnik looked around to check that his nemesis was ridden.  
Sonic was able to grab on to Robotnik's hand and swing wildly and latched onto MR's backside.   
"Whoa!" Sonic looked down from MR's body and could see the entire forest from up above. They were quite high above, so falling was the last thing he wanted to do.  
Sonic looked in the mech's right hand and saw Bunnie still unconscious from the first fight and held tightly in his grip. How was he going to get put of this prediciment.  
Sonic climbed up to the back of MR and punched him square on the metallic fist. Sonic grunted in pain as the blow did more damage to him than to the mech. MR turned his head and faced his side with beading red eyes glowing on Sonic's body.  
"You're still here? This ride is for one occupant only!" MR pointed his hand at Sonic's face.  
Sonic gasped and a metal strand of wire shot out of a finger and wrapped around Sonic's arm.   
"Wha...!" Sonic yelled.  
MR grabbed a hold of Sonic and held him in front of him. Sonic grunted and tried to move towards MR in an effort to kick off of him, or attack him, but Robotnik held him at bay.  
"Now lets see how well you fly, Hedgehog!" Robotnik asked.  
Robotnik dispatched the coil and sent Sonic plumenting down to the Great Forest. The wind blew from under him, as the mech grew further and further away from him.  
"HA, HA, HA! Now that Sonic is out of the way, I can finally destroy the Great Forest!"  
Something exploded in the air that rattled the air around him.  
"What? More nusisences! Gahhh!" Robotnik grumbled.  
"What is that? Some robot over the Forest?" Tails shouted.   
"...uugh...where am I?...!!" Bunnie awoke and happened to notice she was held captive by Metal Robotnik and held hundreds of feet in the air.  
The Tornado cutted through the air and flown above the clouds towards the enemy. Robot took no stops against his newest threat and held his hand out and fired a charged blast.   
"Whoa!" Tails shouted upon seeing the boagy.   
Tails pushed the stick hard left and narrowly dodged the projectile the mech fired at him, profroming a tight roll in the air. The blast litted up the sky as Tails continued on towards the robot.  
"Ugghh! Let me go!" Bunnie yelled.  
Bunnie broke free of the mech's grip, but found herself falling to the ground herself.  
"Bunnie?!" Tails gasped.  
Tails pushed the speed on his bi-plane towards the mech and went under it as it was firing at him. The bi-plane dived towards Bunnie, Tails doing his best avoiding the blast of the machine gun cutting through the air.  
"Tails!" Bunnie cried out.  
Tails swung down underneath and Bunnie grabbed onto the wing and held on for dear life through the air.  
"Thanks, Tails, I owe you one, sugar." She thanked him while kneeling down on the wing.  
"No problem, Bunnie, but where's Sonic at?"   
"Good question, Tails."  
"Uggghhh! Die!"  
"Hold on, Bunnie!" Tails shouted as he put on his goggles.  
  
Sonic opened his eyes and was surprised that he was still alive, but he body ached all over. He looked up and saw that the tree branches had broken his fall up above. Lying on the forest floor half dead, Sonic sat up and rubbed the back of his head.  
"Man, how long was I out?"  
Sonic gunted in pain, and heard something crashing through the trees. Sprays of machine gun rounds shot through the trees and hit the ground where Sonic was. Sonic covered his face as the bullets narrowly missed where he was standing.  
"Man, that's it!"   
He got to both feet in a wobbily, shaken manner, his arms at his side with fists shaking with anger boiling over and peaking to the limit.   
  
"This doesn't look good," Sally witnessed while looking at the action with binoculars.  
Sally was with the rest of the Freedom Fighters and Mobians at the caves, but she ventured out away from the caves once everyone was safe to see how things were going.  
"Tails can't stall him forever...Sonic, where are you when we need you?" Sally thought.  
She took her eyes off of Metal Robotnik and saw a golden streak shoot out of the treetops at an incredible speed. Sally blinked her eyes and wondered if it was for real and what excatly was it.  
  
"I tire of this meddling games. This ends NOW." Robotnik yelled.  
Robotnik quickly charged up both of his arm cannons and fired them directly into the heart of the Great Forest.  
"The Great Forest!" Bunie yelled from the bi-plane.  
The charged beams merged together into one giant blast and was heading towards the Great Forest in a spiraling, unpresendented speed.   
"What a lovely view of the annialation of Knothole...huh?"  
Robotnik suddenly saw something flying from the forest deflecting his shot back into the air.  
"What the...?"  
Sonic hovered into the air zone where Metal Robotnik was and stood at him with his arms folded.  
"What are you?" Robotnik said in a menacing tone.  
"The one that will bring you down for good." Sonic replied.  
Suddenly, blue electricity began to stir around the entire frame of Metal Robotnik and the source was coming from the Sapphire Stone located on Metal Robotnik's right arm. Its power was being amplified throughout the entire body and unit that was Metal Robotnik.  
"Sonic?" Tails had to take off the goggles to see his best friend hovering in the air.  
"Yeah, that's him alright, but he looks way different than he usually looks! His fur is yellowish and his quills are up on end, but how is he doing it?" Bunnie explianed with the little information she knew.  
"Bunnie, the Shadowbots, we can go stop them!"  
"You're right! I pray Sonic can take care of Robotnik now."  
"Thank goodness, Bunnie and Tails are safe." Sonic thought when he saw them leave.  
"Sonic, what manner is this?! You've changed somehow." Robotnik inspected the hedgehog's new form.  
"It's called taking it to another level, and unless you want some of this, I suggest leaving now." Sonic replied.  
"I don't fear you at all hedgehog for I have a great power myself. Our fight shall decides who lives and who dies."  
Good and evil had their battlefield, the players equally matched and strengthened to unfathomable levels. The final chapter of the war for Mobius would be written upon the pages of Mobian history.  
  
"So, what's the plan, Bunnie?" Tails said.  
"Head over there, Tails and let er' fly!" Bunnie replied as she pointed over at the edge of the Forest edge.  
  
"Antione! Antione!" An out of breath voice yelled at him.  
Antione saw Rotor running after him like there was no tomorrow. Rotor caught his breath and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath.  
"Vhat are you doing 'ere,Ro-ter?" Antione questioned.  
"...Helping you stay alive, Ant...!" Rotor huffed.  
The two were nearly on top of the Shadowbot army, but were hidden by the high brush and thick of the woods.   
"What is that, 'Ro-ter?"  
"This'll make those Shadowbots obsolete!"  
Roter operated a control switch on the spherical ball he created and threw it into the army of Shadowbots. The sphere went off and electricity went off throughout the entire army.  
"Yes!"  
"Yes, but they are not falling!"  
Indeed, the electricity was conducting through the Shadowbots, but they looked like they were not being affected by it. Without any warning, an explosion exploded within the masses of the robot bunch. Rotor and Antione looked up and saw a bi-plane swooping up towards the clouds.   
"Tails!" Rotor shouted and waved at him.  
The robots looked and raised their wrist in an attempt to fire at the bi-plane, but nothing came out of their wrists. The weapon Rotor threw in had short-circuited the weapons system of all the Shadowbots.  
"Hey guys!" A familiar voice yelled at them.  
"Bunnie? Bunnie!"   
Antione almost dropped his sword when he heard her voice, but he was sure glad to see her.  
"Antione!" Bunnie replied as she reached the two.  
Bunnie ran and hugged Antione and kissed him dearly on the cheek.  
"Tails is giving us air support! Let's go bust some rob-heads!"   
"I'm up with that!"  
"Me too!" Rotor added.  
The three of them charged the robots and the Shadowbots with thier attention to the bi-plane didn't notice the Freedom Fighters wagging war upon them. .  
  
Sonic dashed at MR and attacked his torso with a barrage of slick, speedy punches. They were so hard that Robotnik himself could feel the rattling of the blows from within the mech. Robotnik retreated a short distance and fired a charge shot out of his arm cannon. Sonic leaned his body to the side and dodged the energy blast. The shot, chared with electricity, blew by him and exploded in a ball of engulfing matter. Robotnik charged Sonic and came back with blows of his own. Sonic dodged each attack without using any effort. With such skill and grace, he slightly moved a part of his body away from each incoming blow without hardly any effort. Seeing as direct attacks wasn't going to hurt Sonic, Robotnik rasied an arm and fired a missile from the yellow hatch underneath his arm.   
"!!" Sonic thought.  
Sonic blocked his face and the missile exploded straight at him. When the missile detonated in front of him, a burning beacon of light flashed in front of him, blinding him instantly. Sonic peeked from his arms and saw a metallic arm heading for him. The light had distracted Sonic long enough that Robotnik was able to slam his fist into Sonic's torso.Sonic gasped, having the wind knocked out of him, and Robotnik took no time in following up the attack by grabbing Sonic by the head and punching him again with such a velocity that he almost flew away out of his sight.  
"And to finish the deal." Robotnik shouted.  
Robotnik target Sonic's body, pulled his arm up and fired a charged blast at him. The blast screamed through the air and when the projectile reached its target, it exploded in a hugmousgous blast.  
"That takes care of that!" Robotnik called.  
Robotnik looked in the direction that he destroyed Sonic, and his scanners where going off the map.  
"What's this?" He looked into the computer screen.  
Something was coming at his at an almost ungodly speed, screaming into the air, possibilty break the speed of sound itself. he saw some gold aura coming at him at top speeds, so fast that his speed clocking machines where going off the charts.  
Sonic flew back at Robotnik and delivered a shattering double-foot kick to the mech's stomach.   
"Don't think we're done yet!" Sonic said.  
Sonic could very well hear the aches the groans of Robotnik inside after the powerful attack, but he didn't care for his safety, he cared for the Mobians safety and his friends. With a loud yell, Sonic quickly struck the mech in the face with a firece angling kick, hoping to knock off or destroy the armor. The head retained itself and Sonic had to resort to other measures. Sonic quickly grabbed the mech's arm and threw him up into the air, and an aura begin to glow around Sonic's body. Sonic dashed towards Robotnik, who was still being shaken from being tossed high in to the air, and Sonic clencthed his fist.  
"We end this now!" Sonic shouted.  
It was a brilliant and earth shattering attack, as Sonic flew at Robotnik and struck at Robotnik's shoulder so fast that it seperated and disconnected from the rest of his body. Sonic stopped himself and turned around to look at his enemy, but as he looked something weird was happening. A blue aura was covering MR and the arm that he seperated joined back with the rest of his body and wires, plates and connectors and joints began to metd back into places. After many grinding and scraping sounds, the mech's arm was totally back in place, as if the event surely didn't happen.  
"No way!" Sonic said through gritted teeth.  
"But of course, I have so much power at my disposial that I can overcome anything you throw at me, hedgehog!" Robotnik replied.  
The mech was facing Sonic from afar when it disappeared in thin air. Sonic gasped and looked around him, but the sky was devoid of any traces of the mech.  
"Wha? Were can he be? That's some clever magician trick he sure pulled." Sonic thought.  
Sonic turned his head, and the dark, looming blood red eyes and body of MR approached him, and rammed into him with the full force of a semi truck. Robotnik then disappeared after the attack and left Sonic alone, reeling in excruating pain in his chest. Sonic held an arm of the region of pain, only to be striked again by the mech in the back. Sonic released a shout of pain and Robotnik released a coil out of his hand and coiled it around Sonic's feet. Robotnik then flew towards the Great Forest away from the central away and slammed Sonic at the ground. He aimed his hand at the location where Sonic was slammed through and fired long, streaming laser blasts at it. The attack started slowly, then increased ten told as the laser beams landed at ground zero in such a rapid fire pace that dust from the earth began to kick up from the attack. The dust cleared and a large pile of destruction of trees laid waste a couple of acres wide.   
It was a dead zone and the air was still and silent around it. Robotnik hovered above the diaster area wondering if his enemy could survive such an attack. Upon further thinking, he decided not to stay around to find out.   
  
Antione slashed through the torso of Shadowbot and stabbed another lurching bot sneaking behind him.  
"Not excatly my day on the beach!" Antione shouted.  
"No kidding!" Rotor replied as he smashed through a Shadowbot.  
Bunnie threw a Shadowbot in to another bot and looked up into the sky amist the battling.  
"Look up in the sky, ya'll!" She pointed.  
"Time to destroy this place!" Robotnik yelled.  
Robotnik started his jets and flew up into the air. Yet from the debris, trees were being pushed aside and a worn figure appered from the mess. The scarred and bloodied hedgehog yelled and bolted from the ground at MR.  
Robotnik faced the Great Forest and suddenly saw the hedgehog out of the debris and rocket towards him with such speed that he was almost a golden blur on his computer screen.  
"It's... not... possible!" Robotnik yelled.  
But the impossible was deemed possible. Sonic charged at Robotnik and moved at such speeds that he was already behind the mech and delivered an elbow to the mech's back. MR turned around, but before he could even analyis what happened, Sonic jump-kicked MR in the side and was gone before he could even retaliate. Sonic continued his barrage of attacks, attacking Robotnik at every possible angle at unparrel speeds. Robotnik couldn't even keep track of him on his pulsation dectector. Sonic put presicion and soul into each attack, denting and even knocking off parts of his armor.Robotnik quickly retreated away from Sonic and Sonic did the same.   
"We are quite evenly match, hedgehog, but I have the advantage in this battle."   
MR scanned the entire forest side for any mass signs of heat signatures. It was a dead giveaway when he saw a cluster of heat signals inside a rocky landform.  
"So that's where they are hiding!"  
Robotnik put both of his arms up and four missiles fired out of the yellow platings.   
"What? Why is he firing at the caves? Oh no..." Sonic thought.  
Sonic flew down, following the missiles trajectory and smashed two missiles and caught up with the third one but the fourth one was closing in on its destination. Sonic gasped and kicked it up a notch and had no time to destroy it. The missile exploded just several yards away from the landscape, engulfing Sonic in a yellow, firey explosion.   
The explosion cleared and Sonic was nowhere to be seen.  
"It was about time I killed him, he was quite an enemy but in the long run only one player had to remain. And now for the Great Forest..."  
Unfortunately for him, something smashed at the shoulder of his mech at upon his left side. Sonic struck Robotnik with a lunging fist.  
"Don't you learn anything, hedgehog. I'm indestructible!"  
Sonic kept his poise and kept his fist in Robotnik's armor. The fist began to glow a yellow color and the shoulder exploded in a small flash of light. Robotnik yelped and Sonic retreated away from him, as he looked at the damage. The, dark interior of wires and metal were moreso exposed do to the attack. The blue aura of the Sapphire Stone tried to rejuevenite the broken section of the armor, but the process was taking longer than Robotnik had expected.  
"Don't think I'm letting you heal yourself, 'buttnik!"  
With the speed of a hurricane in full season, Sonic roared at MR with his blazing gold aura glowing around him. Sonic charged at Robotnik but MR put both of his arms in front of him in defense. Sonic tackle clashed at MR's armor that it sent tremendous soundwaves throughout the sky. The deadlocked, but Sonic flipped over MR and kicked him in the back and Robotnik truned and struck behind him, but only whiffed air. Sonic quickly flew up and in front of him and kicked him in the body area and caught Metal Robotnik wavering off guard. Robotnik regained his composure and almost synchonety, Sonic's eyes met with Metal Robotnik's eyes. They were both filled with the burning desire and fueling with the drive of winning the battle, or ridding the other from the plane of existance.  
"It's time our fight conluded, hedgehog!" Robotnik yelled.  
MR put up both of his arms and a blue electricity field shot up around himself. Sonic hit him and was blown back, tumbling several feet back. MR teleported and reappeared several hundred feet above him. MR slowly circled his arms up into the air and placed them in front of him and charged his power to the maximum level. The blue aura focused into Robotnik's fingertips. Sonic flew up at him, ready to stop the madman, but what indeed did the doctor have in store?  
"DIE, HEDGEHOG! ANNIALIATION!" Robotnik shouted.  
The blast exploded out his fingers and a blast of unmeasureable porportions rained at the planet. Sonic gasped, then yelled as the immense beam towered on him and engulfed him.  
"Oh no!" Sally shouted as she looked at the battle approching the fatal end.  
"Whoa!" Tails gasped in awe, looking on from his bi-plane.  
"Yes! Yes! You shall meet your grave now, Sonic!" Robotnik roared in triumph.  
The blast of energy rained on the Forest and was hitting ground zero, when something odd was happening. The beam was was not driving into the ground, but was stopping just above up the forest.  
"Wha..?" Robotnik said.  
Sonic grunted and put his entire effort into stopping the beam from destroying the entire forest. He put his shoulder and entire body into stopping it and strained to his body's limit, but even so the beam slowly continued to advance on the Great Forest.   
"Give it up, hedgehog. You'll never defeat me!" Robotnik cackled.  
The blue beam physically overpowered Sonic, and descended it's way down to the Great Forest. Sonic closed his eyes and thought of everyone down at Knothole, his friends, Tails, Sally. The world wouldn't be safe and Robotnik would enslave everyone in the world. His crimes would go unpunished and his dreams would become a fearsome reality to anyone living on the planet. No more.  
A power exploded inside Sonic and his aura grew to the size of the beam. Sonic yelled and held both of his hands up against the beam.   
"Yes! What? What this!?"   
The beam stopped midway and began reversing back towards the owner. The golden aura began to push the blue beam back away from the surface of the ground.  
"Impossible!" Robotnik yelled.  
The golden aura pushed the blue beam up and Sonic kicked the beam with all his strength within him.  
"Take THAT!" Sonic yelled.  
The blue beam reversed directions and headed back towards Robotnik. He tried to control it, but the the control was gone and it was racing back at him. The beam stuck Robotnik in an immense blast.   
"Ugh! Damn you, Sonic! I'll get...!"  
MR electroucuted and the Sapphire Stone exploded the arm off of the mech and the robot exploded in a dazzling array of explosions lighting up the sky.  
Sonic gasped heavily and slowly floated down to the surface. Cheers and applause where heard in the distance.  
"Its finally..over." 


	10. Brave New World

Chapter Nine: Brave New World  
  
"Oh, Sonic. Will you please wake up?"   
It was the first thing he heard in quite awile, the soothing sound of her voice. His visions were dark and blurry with no real transaction or meaning, hopefully, he'd knocked himself out of the funk and came back to his home.  
"Everyone! He's coming to!" She yelled.  
He was back in his room, everything left like he left it days ago. Items and his belongins junked in random areas in his room. Sonic fluttered his eyes and the first thing he saw was the lovable faces of his crew. THe second thing he saw was the band-aids and treatment for his scars have been tended to. The inital pain of the epic war was still there, but it had subsided to a minimum that Sonic could still feel, even after his sleep. All of his friends were around him reacting in smiles and laughs when he awoked and moved about.  
"Man, something must've ran me over awhile ago."  
"You plummeted from the sky after you defeated Robotnik and fell to the ground afterwards." Sally told him.  
"You were darn well near out for three days." Bunnie told him.  
"Really...?" Sonic replied when he came to his senses. "Hey! What about the Shadowbots!"  
"We took care of them, Sonic!" Tails noted to him  
"Rotor's invention and Tails' aerial support did most of the work, we just cleaned up after them." Bunnie added in.  
"When we saw you up there battling Robotnik like that, we didn't know what to think at first, but now the worst is over."   
""He's gone foreever, Aunt Sally?"  
"Most definately, Tails." Rotor answered. "We couldn't find a trace of his body throughout the entire forest."  
"Yeah ha! Robotnik is long gone and Mobius is free at last!" Antione cheered.  
Sally had noetworthy signaled her code to Bunnie and she got the message once all the guys where cheering and whooping inside her hut.  
"Come on guys, let's give Sonic a little bit of air, you guys. He had a hard battle, guys." She began to grab around all three of the guys and pushed them out of the living quarters.  
"All right." Get well, Sonic. You earned your rest." Antione told him.  
"Are you kidding? It's nothing but chili dogs for me!" He sat up and a pain shot from inside his stomach and he winced and grabbed his body once he felt it. Bunnie had corralled everyone out of the room and Sally and Sonic were alone in the room together.  
"I told you ...I'd promise a party when we got back." Sonic smiled.  
"Yes you did," Sally peckered a kiss on his lips.  
"I'm surprised you survived. You scared me half to death over you."  
"What can I say...I die hard."  
She sighed, yet she had a positvive feeling within her. A feeling that she was still with him.  
"Next time, we go together."  
"...Ok, but..I'm starving! The hedgehog could use some substance or two." Sonic pointed towards his stomach.  
Sally giggled, smiled and Sonic cupped one of her hands with both of his and looked into her eyes.   
"You deserve your rest, hero." And with that she kissed Sonic deeply and profundly moreso than they had ever kissed before.  
  
Deep within the bowels of Robotropolis, down in the deepest of levels locked away by control switches and numerical locked doors, a robotic body in a chamber was given life by pre-operated computer commands. The programming chips automatacially turned on and uploaded the programs it was processed to do with the shelled body. Multiple wires connected to the new, space age looking body sparked with the power of life and circuity. The brows lowered and the figure stepped out of the the chamber.  
"It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of the likes of me, hedgehog!"  
The robotic figure, dubbing itself as EGGMAN and looking excatly like Robotnik except on a higer scale of design, slowly tooked it's first steps towards a new beginning, and continuing form where his old, corrpulent, self left off. It was ironic how new beginnings followed old traditions sometimes, but if it was the way of the world, then it should be as it is known.  
A computer screen in the room turned on as he exited the tubes and a light blue grid screen flashed up on the screen.  
[Name: Shadow the Hedgehog, Created by Dr. Gereld Robotnik fifty years ago. Location: Prision Island.]  
"Yes, Yes!" Eggman said as he tapped entry figures, coordinations and specs into the machine.   
"My grandfather's experiment will be mine for the taking, and he shall be the key to eliminate Sonic once and for all!" Robotnik chuckled and smiled his evilish grin.  
  
Somewhere a young rabbit was playing with her chao friend, unwillingly knowing that an adventure would blossom in her hands. 


End file.
